Of Draconians and Chaos
by Lashana Inferno
Summary: Trekking through the wilderness of Krynn, Kang, Lashana, Xellos and the First Dragonarmy Engineers struggle to keep themselves and twenty five baby draconians from becoming prey to an odd breed of sorcerer.
1. Summoning

_I don't own Xellos, Kang, Slith or the First Dragonarmy Draconian Engineers._   
  


Summoning   
  


Kang sighed heavily as he entered his tent, the noise of the camp around his command tent only slightly dulled by the thick tarps. He had been back on Krynn for almost a week, though to him it felt like years instead of mere days. He had come with the hopes of spending some good times with Slith and his old comerades, instead, he had entered into a war that threatened the very survival of his species. 

Slith, who had taken command of the Regiment after he had left, had discovered twenty five female draconian eggs, and while it was a huge deviation from what Kang had read in the books Lashana had given him, he was glad for it. It meant a chance to survive. But that survival was being jepordised by some sort of sorcerer who could conjure up demonic minons at will. He had thus rejoined and retaken command, Slith happily returning to his place as his second in command. They had trekked through fifty leagues in under three days, the buys were exhasuted, their food supplys low, and their pursuers were hot on their tails. It seemed hopeless, but Kang had one final trump card that he had been holding back. 

Kneeling by a roughly constructed alter, he lit some musky inscense, then closed his eyes, falling into a light trance that he had once perfected in order to commune with Takhisis, the former Dark Queen. Now though, he was searching for another Goddess, one that he was more familiar with, one that he trusted more than his former Queen. _L-Sama.... please, hear me..._

~*~ 

"Lashana-dono!" 

"Hmm?" Dark blue eyes rose from their inspection of the wiring that connected the TV to the dvd player to look at the samurai that ran past the room, a single white eyebrow arching quizically when she saw him glimpse her at the last moment and try to skid to a stop, his socks giving little purchase as he slid past the doorway. Shaking her head, she plugged the stereo system's speakers into the DVD player, cross wired it into the TV, then attached the SVGA plug to the TV. 

By that time, Kenshin had managed to regain his balance and rushed into the room. "Lashana-dono!" 

"Hmm? What's up, Ken-chan?" she asked curiously as she wiped her hands clean on her jeans then carefully eased herself out from behind the entertainment centre, pushing the huge shelf back into place and admiring her handy work. 

"Ne, it's Duncan-san! He was working on his car and the jack broke!" 

She blinked, then slowly turned to look at him. "He's trapped under his car again, isn't he?" 

"Hai." 

There were a duet of soft telepathic snickers from nearby, and Lashana sweatdropped as she listened to Akhor and Kalamadea laughed. "Oh for the love of the Gods...." Throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation, she stomped past him, paused to pull on her favorite sneakers, then headed outside, shaking her head sadly when she saw the twitching legs sticking out from under the black convertable. "Trust you to have removed the tires before going under there to change the oil." 

His legs flailed as a muffled yell came from the vague direction of the radiator. "Gebmeowtuber!" 

Blinking, she turned to look at Kenshin, who was standing by her side. "Any idea what he just said?" 

"Um... 'get me out of here', perhaps?" 

Duncan's legs flailed even harder as another mumbled scream came from under the car. 

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Lashana decided, raising a hand to tap a finger against her chin thoughtfully. "How the hell are we gonna get him out from under there? Blackie's gone off to the lake with Wolvie, Tvashtar, Kadrith, Mewtwo, Malcho and Zel, Beast is out on a Twinkie Run, Telca's out with Remy, Kang's out-dimension to visit his army...." 

::He looks like a fish,:: Akhor commented as he flew over and perched on the roof of the car, his elder brother settling beside him. ::One of the sick ones that flop around before they die.:: 

_Oh there's a happy thought, thanks a lot, Akhor._

There was the sound of air being displaced. "Konichiwa, Inferno-sama!" 

"Crap." Sighing, she turned and eyed Xellos warily. "Stay out of this." 

"Hai, hai." Smiling in that annoying trickster facade he was good at, he floated into the air and reclinded there, watching them from behind seemingly closed eyes. 

Grumbling, Lashana moved to the front bumper of the car, then looked at Kenshin. "I'm gonna try to lift this thing, but there's no way I'm gonna be able to hold it for longer than a few seconds, so when I yell, you drag idiot boy out from under the car, okay?" 

"Hai." 

"Okay, on three..." Bracing herself, she grabbed the fender and exhaled. "One.... two.... thr-- AUGH!!" 

::_MOMMY!::_

"Lashana-sama!" As she clutched at her head and screamed, Xellos quickly phased to her side, catching her as she collapsed, unconscious. Curious and perhaps a little worried, he lightly pressed two fingers to her neck, feeling an erratic weak pulse there. "Yare, yare. Seems L-Sama needed to speak with her." 

~*~ 

"Nuuuurgh....." Groaning, Lashana put both hands to her head, feeling as if she was in danger of it rolling off of her shoulders. "What the crispy hell _happened?!_ Ooo, my _head_...." She dared to open her eyes, only to clench them shut again, not liking what she had seen. "L-sama?" 

**Forgive me for bringing you here so abruptly, My Knight.**

"Oh, no problem, I always enjoy the sensation of my brain trying to leak out my ears." Slowly regaining her equilibrium, she shakingly got to her feet, still clutching her head. "Why am I here? Aw geez, I'm not dead _again_, am I?" 

Low laughter trinkled across the Sea of Chaos. **No. Though your body is in a sort of coma at the moment. As for why you are here, listen.**

"_L-Sama, I don't know if you can hear me..._" 

Lashana gasped, snapping her head up, eyes wide. "Kang!" 

"_I'm not sure if you even keep an eye on Krynn, but this is our last hope. I need help. My Regiment, no, all draconians are in danger. Some sorcerer that has spells I've never seen has... oh hell, I don't know how he did it. Conjured up a demonic army. We're on the run, time here has changed, I don't know how. Maybe because I read the books on what was going to happen to my Company, maybe because I chose to stay with Lashana instead stay with the Regiment, I don't know. But Slith found twenty five female draconian babies three weeks ago, and they've been on the run ever since. We're the last of our kind, and we're dropping like flies. Please, My Lady, I need help. I need Lashana. Please...._" 

"My God, he sounds horrible," the half-elf whispered, clutching a hand to her chest, over her heart. 

**You must go. This is an official matter now. The sorcerer he mentioned has been using _my_ Chaos to conjure up his monstrosities. He must be stopped, the timeline restored and the draconians saved.**

Lashana nodded and bowed her head, raising a fist to thump her left shoulder in the traditional respectful manner. "Hai, L-Sama." 

**Good luck, My Knight.**

~*~ 

"What do you mean, 'L-sama wanted to talk to her'?!" Kenshin demanded as he looked at the elf that Xellos had lain on the ground, her skin a pale grey. He wasn't even sure if she was breathing. 

"Exactly that. Her body may be here, but her spirit is in the Sea of Chaos.... ah! There she is!" 

Kenshin's eyes widened as Lashana suddenly gasped for air, her back arching as her eyes flew open, flashing from blue to gold and back again. "Lashana-dono?" 

There was a pause before a weak whisper answered him. "There has _got_ to be an easier way for L-Sama to get my attention.... Oooh, I hurt _everywhere...._" She struggled to sit up, not complaining when Xellos helped her, supporting her with a strong arm when the two small dragons flew into her arms. "I have to go.... Kang's in trouble. L-Sama wants me to go stop a sorcerer that's using her Chaos." _Shh, you two. I'm back, I'm okay._

::You were gone, just like that. It was like you were dead all over again!:: Kalamadea cried in her thoughts, burrowing into her arms with Korin while Akhor buried himself in her hair. 

_I'm okay now, though. It's okay..._ Hands pushed down on her shoulders when she tried to rise, and she blinked as she looked up into concerned blue eyes. 

"Lashana, you are in no condition to go anywhere!" Kenshin protested worriedly as he knelt and moved to check her vitals, frowning when he felt that her pulse was still erratic. "Lashana, please." 

"Ken-chan," she smiled tiredly and rose a hand to his scarred cheek. "I'm alright." 

"Mraaaffffff!" 

"Yes, Duncan, I'll get to you in a minute," she sighed as she struggled to her feet, surprised when Xellos helped her. "You're unusually helpful." 

A smirk played over his lips, the usual trickster facade. "I _was_ ordered to protect you, Knight-sama." 

"Right, right...." Rubbing a crick out of the back of her neck while Kalamadea alighted on her right shoulder, and Akhor on her left. She walked over to the car and the twitching legs that stuck out from under it, eyeing the problem curiously. "Well crud, I'm not recovered enough to try to lift it yet, and I have to get to Kang...." A tap on her shoulder make her look over at a now grinning Xellos, and she grimaced at the sight. "No meddling!" 

"Ah, but Knight-sama! You need to get to Krynn, and I can merely teleport Duncan-kun out from under that car...." he trailed off and cracked an eye open to look at her in amusement. "For a price." 

Her shoulders slouched. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" 

Kenshin grimaced. "Probably." 

~*~ 

"Second squadron will take shifts with Third. We need to double our defenses here, here, and here," Kang announced, pointing out the weak spots in their encampment on a rough map of the area. "We have to take a day to rest, the men are nigh dying on their feet." 

Slith nodded. "The five baaz assigned to the females report that the babies are doing fine. Their appetites are still high, they've just finished off some broth." 

"Well, at least that's one less worry," Fulkuth, leader of Support Squadron, sighed, raising a clawed hand to rub at a hastily bandaged cut on his right upper arm. "The medical tent is full, I've sent some of my officers to help the two medics. They're overwhelmed." 

Kang rumbled, but nodded in agreement with Fulkuth's judgement. "With luck, we may be getting some help soon." 

"Your elf friend?" Yethik, commander of Second Squadron frowned. "Are you sure she can be trusted, sir?" 

A low growl left the large bozak draconain at that, and Yethik immediately lowered his gaze. "I trust Lashana with my life and more! I don't want to hear _any_ of you question her again." 

Before anyone could respond, their attentions were drawn to the glimmer of gold light that appeared in the air. It flickered once before floating past those gathered, stationing itself in front of the entranceway before it blossomed into a portal that glowed gold and black, pulsing almost hypnotically before a form stepped through it. White hair glistened from the light of the portal, bright blue eyes sparkling with amusement as lips pulled back into a grin, exposing sharp canines. The female wore black boots, blue jeans frayed at the knees and thighs, and a light grey tank top with the words 'don't piss me off, I'm running out of places to hid the bodies' emblazoned across it. 

"Hey boys," Lashana drawled, silhouetted by the bright portal behind her as she planted her hands on her hips and let her grin turn into a full smirk. "Someone call for an Avatar of Chaos?"   
  
  
  
  
  


TBC 


	2. First Impressions

_No ownage of Kang, Slith, Xellos or the Draconian Army happening here._   
__ __

First Impressions   
  
  


Kang blinked to get over his momentary shock of her grand entrance before he grinned and approached the elf he had come to know as his greatest friend. "I was afraid L-Sama wouldn't hear me." 

"Oh, she heard. Damn near killed me dragging my soul up to the Sea of Chaos to talk to me," she snorted, looking at him critically before reaching up to rub her knuckles across the side of his snout. "Christ on a crutch, you look like hell. So where's this bastard sorcerer? I wanna kick his ass from one end of this world to the other." 

"Yare yare, Knight-sama! You're so empassoined today!" 

Kang looked past the white haired elf and scowled. "You brought the freak? Are you insane?!" 

Her shoulders slouched, and for one moment she looked near panicked at his reaction. "I didn't have a choice. Really, I didn't!! Duncan got trapped under his car again and I didn't have the time to deal with it, so Xellos teleported him out from under it on the condition that I bring him along," she muttered sourly, sending a disgusted look at the Mazoku that was floating beside her. "I didn't have a choice." 

"Keep repeating that, you might believe it," Xellos said brightly, avoiding the smack she aimed at him, but not the three dragons that kicked him in the back of the head before they went to perch high up on the tent support beams. 

"_Anyway,_" Lashana growled, sending a warning glare at Xellos as the portal snapped closed, "I got the message, I'm here, where's the moron I'm supposed to kill?" 

Fulkuth blinked. "_This_ is the Avatar of Chaos?!" 

Lashana beamed and waved. "Hi, Fulkuth! Slith! Dude! How's it been? Well, before all this annoying sorcerer demonical thing?" 

The sivak grinned toothily while the other bozak gaped in shock. "Hey, Elfy," he smirked, receiving an irritated glare as a response. "I see that you still haven't changed." 

"'Course not. Too much effort. Excuse me for a moment." She looked upwards and glared. "Korin! If you chew through that support rope I swear to L-Sama herself that I will _throw_ you into a portal and you can stay at the Palace with the Things in the Fridge until Mewtwo gets back from that bedamned male bonding road trip thing!" 

The small green dragon froze, eyes wide in horror, then ducked his head and tried to look pitiful. ::I'll be good!:: 

She snorted. "You damn well better. Everyone, those three up there are my dragons. If I hear one joke about them being small, you'll regret it. The white one's Akhor, Kalamadea's blue and Korin's green. They're bonded to me and they're also telepathic, so if you hear voices, you're not going nuts, it's one of them talking to you. These are the rules when dealing with them : if you have a problem with one of them, you come to me or to Kang." There were hisses and growls of displeasure from the trio, and she sent them a warning glare before continuing. "Also, if you hurt one of them, I beat you senseless and string you up on the highest tree by your scaly balls. Got it? Good. Xellos, get away from Gloth." The last was said so calmly amongst the threats that it took everyone a moment to catch the clue that made the click before they all turned to look at the purple haired trickster, who was reclineing in mid-air, smiling benignly. 

Kang glanced at her. "No choice, huh?" 

"I tried, really I did. Besides, he's still a powerful Mazoku, he'll come in handy. And he _does_ still have to obey me, right Xellos?" 

The Mazoku winced. "Hai, Knight-sama." 

"Right!" Clasping her hands together in front of herself, Lashana looked at the gathered draconians and grinned. "So, introductions. I'm Lashana, I answer to either that or Inferno. Anyone who calls me 'Elfy'," she sent a Look in Slith's direction, "is taking their life into their own hands. That over there is Xellos. He's a perverted masochistic sadist that's prone to groping people. He also thrives on pain and dark emotions like anger and hatred. There's two ways to get rid of him if you really want to. One: think really, really happy thoughts. Grin, laugh, act like a giddy lunatic if you have to, but it'll drive him away. The second is to come and find me. He may be a pain in the tail, but he's sworn to follow my orders, so if any of you have a problem with him, tell me, and I'll get things straightened out. Most important, don't piss him off. He may look like a harmless little idiot, but he had enough power to level half a planet if he really wanted to. That goes double for me. You get on my bad side, and you're in for a world of torment. Thus, as long as you don't try to kill me, my dragons, or insult my heritage, you'll live longer, kapeesh?" 

Yethik blinked. "Um.... yes ma'am?" 

"Good boy." 

"Stop harrassing my officers," Kang growled to her as he stepped forward and took control. "What I said before stands. We need to get ourselves into a defensible position _now._ And spread the word that Lashana's here. I don't want some idiot attacking her." 

There was a draconic snort from above their heads. ::As if they'd actually manage to get their hands on her,:: Kalamadea muttered into their minds, earning surprised looks from the officers. ::Close your mouths, you're catching flies.:: 

"Behave, Kalamadea," Lashana muttered automatically, waiting until everyone except Kang and Slith had left before raising her right arm and holding still as he flew down to land on her arm. _Need you to do me a favor, littling._

::Scout the area?:: 

_Yeah. You mind?_

::Nah. I'll be back soon.:: He crooned and gave her cheek a brief nuzzle before he threw himsef into the air, flying out of the tent and dodging around the huge sivak draconian that yelped and lashed out at him. ::Missed me! Nyah, nyah!:: 

Lashana, who had heard the taunt, rolled her eyes and sighed. "Kang, Kalamadea just freaked Granak out. Three, two one--" 

"Sir! What--" The large sivak paused at the tent's entrance and stared at the elf, then glanced at from a snickering Slith to Kang. "Um... sir?" 

"It's alright, Granak." Kang rumbled, resting a hand on the elf's left shoulder. "This is Lashana. She's the Avatar to the Goddess of Chaos. I want a guard detail assigned to her. See to it." 

"Yare, yare! I can protect Knight-Sama on my own, Kang-san!" Xellos pouted, cutting off Lashana's protest before she could voice it. 

Before things could turn worse, Lashana did a mental about face and quickly thought up a better idea. "Actually, Xel. I've got something I need you to do. Kang? May I see that map?" 

Curious as to what she was planning, he nodded and led her over to it, standing next to her as he pointed out their position, then the position of their advancing pursuers. 

"Perfect!" She snapped her fingers, then turned to the Mazoku. "Xel, I want you to go spy on that army. Find out what you can about that sorcerer. Where he came from, what spells he knows, and scope out some of those demons. I wanna know what I'm going to be up against. Just make bloody sure that you do _not_ lead anyone back here." 

He hesitated, cracking an eye open to peer at her with a single amethyst orb. "Is that an order?" 

"Yup." 

Sighing, he bowed and thumped his right fist against his left shoulder. "Hai, Knight-sama," he murmured, gathering his power around him as he teleported out of the camp. 

"Good idea," Slith praised her. 

"Hmm. But I still don't want those guards. I don't need to be coddled," she protested, looking at Kang sternly. 

He frowned in return. "One guard. No protests. It's either one guard or I have you confined to quarters." 

Slith and Granak watched the silent war of wills as Avatar and Draconian Commander glared at each other. Just around the time Slith was going to start taking bets, Lashana growled and turned away, glaring at the wall as she huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "_Fine. One_ guard. Baka draco!" 

"Stubborn elf," he returned just as pleasantly as he dismissed Granak then turned back to the map. "Now, Slith, Lashana. I think it's time we start thinking up some serious attack plans" 

"Wait." She rested a hand on his arm and frowned. "You said there were babies. That Slith found the eggs. Where are they?" 

"Why?" The second in command eyed her warily, not knowing what her intentions were. 

Clear blue eyes like steel turned to him. "Because I want to put some serious magickal shields around them, and the draco's assigned to them. Shields powerful enough that only a God could break through them." Her gaze cut back to Kang then, as a sigh left her. "I'd throw the same shields over all of you, but unfortunately I just don't have _that_ much power available to me. Not if you want me to be able to fight. What I _can_ promise though, is that I can specially tailor the shields so that both you and I immediately know when the babies are in danger." 

"That depends," he countered. "What sort of spell is this? Is it going to be continuously draining you?" 

"Nope. It's a nice basic little shield spell. Doesn't drain the weaver at all. Now either you show me or I'll have Kalamadea show me the way, since he's already relaying information about the camp to me and all." When he scowled at her, she merely smiled benignly and folded her arms over her chest. "Well?" 

Slith shrugged. "I don't think it could do them any harm, sir. At the very least, having a female here could be benificial." 

She let a smile grace her lips as she gave Slith a sidelong glance. "Problems?" 

"No. Well, not right now. Every now and again, they get upset over things that we can't fathom. Maybe you...." he trailed off, giving her a hopeful look. 

"I'll see what I can do," she chuckled before turning to look at Kang. "Well?" 

He sighed in defeat and nodded. "Alright. Alright. Slith, bring her to see the babies. I'll be along shortly. With your guard," he added, smirking when she grimaced and shot a glare at him. 

"He is never going to leave that alone," she growled as she preceeded Slith out of the tent, raising an arm when Korin and Akhor flew after her and sent imploring glances her way, signalling that they wanted to land. While Korin landed on her arm, Akhor took a more regular perch on her right shoulder, curling his tail around her throat as he settled himself around the back of her neck, and she blinked innocently at all the gazes that were suddenly on her. "What? Haven't you people seen a dragon before? Geez." 

"I think they're more interested in you, Elfy," Slith told her, chuckling when she glared at him at the nickname. "Kang had the news of your arrival spread out over the camp, and word travels fast." 

"So I see," she murmured, cradling Korin in the crook of her left arm as she walked, letting her gaze flit over all the draconians that were staring at her in mild surprise and disbelief. "I hope they'll all be over this staring phase soon, this is starting to make me self-conscious." 

The sivak frowned at her for a moment before turning to glare at the staring dracos. "Alright, that's enough! You all know what elves look like! Move along! Now!" He took hold of Lashana's elbow as he spoke, propelling her towards the tent that was being guarded by two baaz. "Step lively boys. This is Lashana, she's got the Commander's permission to come and go as she pleases, is that clear?" When the guards nodded, he pushed her into the tent and threw the flap closed behind them, snorting in annoyance as his tail lashed. 

Ignoring him for the moment, Lashana eyed the baaz that was tending to the twenty-five females and nodded to him, seeing his gaze darken suspiciously before he returned the silent greeting. Boosting Korin into the air to free her arm, she slowly approached one of the makeshift cribs that held five sleeping babies and smiled warmly at the sight of them curled up with one another, remembering when her three dragons had slept thus. "They're adorable," she whispered, turning when she heard the tent flap move again and smiling at Kang as she motioned for him to be quiet. 

He nodded in understanding and motioned for the baaz to fall in. "T'sak, this is Lashana," he said softly, seeing Lashana bow slightly out of the corner of his eye. "She's the Avatar I spoke of. She'll be putting protective magickal shield on the babies. Speaking of which, how are they?" 

"Doing well, sir. They ate all of the broth given to them, and are sleeping comfortably, though it was a hassle to put Jerle to bed, as usual." 

::They are kinda cute,:: Korin telepathed from where he was perched on a support beam for the large tent, his ruby gaze fixed on the small forms that slept below him. ::I'd hate to take care of them all though. Headache city.:: 

Lashana rolled her eyes at his last mutter, then smiled when she saw a wary look on T'sak's face. "That's just Korin," she explained, pointing up to the small dragon above them, then to Akhor on her shoulder. "And this is Akhor. They're telepathic. And no, they won't hurt the little ones." 

Kang hid a smile at the look in her eyes as she stared down at the baby draconians and reached out to touch her elbow, catching her frown of reluctance before she let him lead her out of the tent, to where a sivak draconian had joined the two baaz in standing guard outside the tent. One gesture and the draco immediately fell in before him, and Kang sighed a little inwardly as he turned to look at Lashana, who looked less than pleased with his prior ultimatim. "Lashana, this is Daeroh. As of now he's assigned to you as your bodyguard. Whether you like it or not." 

She huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "I still don't see _why_ I need a bodyguard," she muttered sourly, drumming her fingers on her arms in annoyance. "I'm a frakkin' Avatar, for Goddess' sake! I'm quite capable of taking care of myself! I'm not some.... some.... gape-mouthed hatchling!" 

The corners of Slith's mouth twitched upwards at that, though he put a great effort into avoiding her sharp gaze when she glanced over at him, obviously hearing his smothered chuckle. 

Kang sighed heavily at her hissed protest and glanced back at the tent that housed the babies, glad that their heated conversation wasn't reaching their ears. "Lashana, I know you. You're going to run yourself ragged trying to protect the Regiment. What's worse is that we're on the move, there are dangers here that even you don't know of. Now stop belly-aching and just accept it, will you?" That was a risk. Challenging her like that usually got him smacked, but he was counting on the fact that she knew that he was in charge here to protect him. 

She glared at him for a long moment before snarling out a sort of agreement, though it certainly sounded like more of a curse than anything else. 

It was rude, but it was a victory. And Kang knew better than to push his luck. "Alright. Now, you were saying something about protection spells?" 

The subtle reminder of _why_ she was with the Regiment broke through her rising annoyance, drawing a heavy sigh from her as she reached up to brush her bangs from her eyes. "Yeah. I guess...." she paused and looked back towards the babies critically. "I guess I could put the spell on the whole lot of them instead of weaving twenty individual spells. Then I'd have enough energy to heal any wounded you have." 

T'sak frowned at that. "But, magicks don't work on us," he protested, drawing a rather smug smirk from the elf. 

"_Normal_ magicks don't work on you lot. _I_ however, am far from normal. Power of a Goddess, remember?" 

Kang snorted. "Power of a Goddess in a _mortal body_. Try to remember _that_, hmm? Having you passing out from exhaustion won't help us." 

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, _mother_. Geez...." The looks that passed between the other present draconians made it clear that she seemed to be the only one that could speak to Kang in such a way without having their skin flayed from their bodies. Hiding a snicker, she rose her right arm and smiled as Akhor swooped down to make a landing, the fingers of her left hand lightly caressing the scales between his horns as she cradled him in the crook of her arm. "Gonna need you to stake this place out for me, littling. You mind?" 

::Nah. I'll babysit for you. They're kinda cute anyway, well, for draconians. Cuz lords know that _Kang_ isn't exactly--:: 

"_Ahkor._" 

He smirked at her warning tone. ::What?:: he asked innocently, blinking at her with wide eyes. 

_Smartass._ Shaking her head slightly, she boosted him up to her shoulder, then led the way back into the tent and gathered her magicks. "Everyone take a step back from the babies please. I don't want you lot mucking up my spell." Once T'sak and Slith had taken steps back from the area, she closed her eyes and rose her hands, sparks of magick glittering at her fingertips as she murmured the incantation to the specially tailored spell she had created especially for this task. Golden power swirled around her as she spoke, her voice rising slightly as the energy in the tent rose, a warm wind tugging at the tent flaps as the bright gold light became brighter and brighter, drawing the attention of the two guards outside as well as various other passing draconians. 

The spell, when she loosed it, cascaded down over the sleeping babies like glittering confetti, each single light envelloping a baby in a golden spherical sheild before vanishing from basic sight, now only detectable for ones with magickal Sight. Grinning now, she lowered her arms and clapped her hands together. "There! All done!" She turned to face Kang again as she spoke, her eyes widening when she saw that the tent was now crammed full of curious draconians who had seen the display of light from outside. "What is this? Gawk at the elf day? Get outta here you morons! You'll wake the little ones!" Akhor and Korin added their voices to hers in low hisses, the white dragon lithely hopping from her shoulder to land on the edge of one of the cribs, wings mantling as he growled protectively. 

Kang came around first, clearing the tent with a single glare as he looked at the gawking soldiers that had gathered behind him. While T'sak went to check on the babies to make sure that Lashana's spell hadn't harmed them in any way, Slith went out to keep the soldiers moving on, his voice easily rising above the continued whispers. 

Curious at the show of power he had seen, Daeroh stepped closer to Lashana and peered at the small white dragon that had now made himself at home in one of the cribs, the sleeping draconian babies curling close to him in their sleep. "How powerful are you, ma'am? I haven't seen a spell like that since the War." 

"I'm powerful enough," she shrugged. "I don't brag about it. And please, don't call me 'ma'am'. Makes me sound old. Call me, Lashana." 

::And here I thought you'd go on an ego trip,:: Korin chuckled as he flew down to her and landed on the top of her head, claws curling into her hair as he leaned down to look at her upside down. ::Who are you and what have you done with my mother?:: 

"Oh grow up," she muttered as she plucked the dragon off of her and cradled him in the crook of her left arm, turning to look at Daeroh as she did so. "Would you mind leading me to whatever tent is serving as a hospice?" 

Kang glanced at her. "I thought you had Kalamadea scout the camp?" 

"I _did_. But even he isn't going to peek into each and every tent. That's more Korin's style. Besides, if you insist on giving me a bodyguard I might as well make use of him. Er... no offense, Daeroh." 

The sivak chuckled good naturedly. "None taken." 

Smirking, Kang nodded to her. "Alright, go then. Come and find me when you're done. Daeroh, make sure nothing happens to her. Not all of the boys have heard of her yet." 

"Yes, sir." After saluting, the sivak turned to the elf and pulled the tent flap aside for her. "After you, ma'a-- Er.... Lashana." 

Smiling, she headed outside and took in a breath of the forest air, a cool wind playing with the tips of her hair and sending wisps into her eyes, making her raise her free hand to tuck the errent lengths behind her right ear. Whispers drew her attention to a duo of draconians nearby, and she winked at them as she walked past, a chuckling Daeroh at her side as she casually strolled through the camp, shivering when the wind suddenly turned rather frigid. "Damn, it's colder here than I thought it would be," she muttered as Korin climbed up to her right shoulder, leaving her free to hug herself and rub her hands over her bare arms. 

"Winter's coming fast this year," he agreed, gently steering her away from a group of soldiers when he saw the draco's beginning to point at her and talk among themselves. "I'm sure I could scrounge up a cloak for you to use." 

"Don't worry about it. I can get warmer clothes from one of my storage portals. I always have a few outfits in there for emergencies." A low trumpet of sound drew her attention upwards as Kalamadea swooped low over draconian's heads, his wings flaring out to stop his rapid descent as he landed on the raised arm that Lashana supplied him. "Heyla, littling. Good work, I'll make sure you get something good for supper." 

Crooning, Kalamadea nuzzled her throat, then turned brilliant blue eyes onto Daeroh. ::So this is your bodyguard, hmm? Couldn't convince Kang that you could take care of yourself, eh?:: 

"Supper's getting steadily worse," she informed him, rolling her eyes when Korin audibly snickered, his tail whapping Kalama on the head. "Korin, stop that!" 

Daeroh smiled at the sight. "The Commander told me they were telepathically bonded to you, but, if you don't mind, how long have you had them?" 

"Almost a year," she replied as she stopped Kalamadea from biting Korin. "I raised them from the egg. Saved them from a pyscho warlock in the process." 

::And we're very grateful,:: Kalamadea supplied with a scathing glare at his green brother. ::Or at least _some_ of us are.:: 

Sensing an immenent fight, Lashana swatted both of them away from her. "Don't you start fighting while you're both clinging to me! I still have those scratches from last time! Go bug, Kang!" 

"You're very close to him, aren't you?" Daeroh asked softly. "The Commander that is." 

She looked away from the two battling forms that were now wheeling through the air and sighed. "Kang and I are close friends. We've been through a lot." A chuckle left her as she shook her head. "I guess it's weird for you to see Kang treating an elf like me as an equal." 

He ducked his head in a nod. "It is, I won't say otherwise. But it's good to see him in high spirits again. He's been in a foul mood as of late, because of the sorcerer and his horde. This is actually the first time we've camped overnight in weeks." 

"It won't be the last," she frowned, eyes flashing gold as she slapped her right fist into her left palm. "I intend to make things very difficult for that bastard socerer." 

"How?" 

A rather psychotic grin spread over her lips. "In the worst way possible." 

He smirked at that, his respect for her growing. "Good. Ah, we're here." Reaching out, he pushed the tent flap aside and held it open for her as she brushed past him, her sudden appearance in the large tent drawing silence from the draconians who were present. Letting go of the thick canvas, he moved to stand by her side and frowned at the looks she was receiving. "This is Lashana. She's the Avatar that Kang summoned." 

"She's an _elf_," a bozak spat in disgust. 

"Half-elf, actually," Lashana corrected with a smirk. "And if you keep giving me dirty looks I'm not gonna Heal you." 

"Magick doesn't work on us," the bozak sneered. "Even a pointy-eared elf should know that." 

"Yes, elves are generally known for their pointed ears. Good for you, you're not blind, just stupid." She sighed sufferingly and walked deeper into the tent, ignoring the glares being sent at her as she moved to stand next to the bozak's cot, staring down at him patiently. "There's a lot about me you don't know," she murmured as she gathered glowing blue light into her hands, the warm Healing energy sparkling slightly, and she smiled when the bozak recoiled at the sight of the spell. "But you'll learn." 

Before he could move any further away, she loosed the spell on him, seeing it seep into his scales before spreading out across his torso, centering on what seemed to be a broken shoulder and a few broken ribs. When he rose his gaze to her in sheer shock once the spell was done, she smiled gently and patted him on his newly healed shoulder. "Good as new. And you're welcome." Hair curling into her eyes, she turned and addressed the rest of the wounded. "So. Who's next?"   
  
  
  


TBC 


	3. Shopping and Demons

_No ownage of Kang, Slith, Xellos or the draconians happening here._   
__ __

Shopping and Demons   
  
  


\\Lashana to Xellos\\   
//Xellos to Lashana//   
  
  
  


"Ugh." Groaning, Lashana rose both hands and massaged the back of her neck, trying to work the tension out of her shoulders as she aimlessly walked through the camp. "Gods, I forgot how much energy it takes to Heal people...." 

Daeroh kept pace with her easily, partially guiding her around various obstacles. "Well, you did Heal twenty soldiers in under half an hour." 

"I just thought I had better stamina than this," she sighed. "But I keep forgetting that sometimes when I Heal serious wounds that I get ghost-pains." 

"Ghost-pains?" 

"Put it this way. I know I don't have wings, I know I shouldn't feel pain, but I can _feel_ the aches that whatever-his-name felt." 

"Kerchak." 

"Whatever." Shivering now, she wrapped her arms around herself and looked around to get her bearings before veering left and heading for Kang's tent, smirking when she heard Daeroh yelp at her sudden change of course and scramble after her. "Tell me about the demons that are after you. How many are there, do they fight with sword and sheild or do they rely on their claws and talons?" 

"Swords and sheilds mostly, but as you saw, they deliver serious wounds with their talons," he answered. "They wear armor and move like humans. Some are huge, like hobgoblins, and twice as strong. Last count had the big ones at five hundred, and the others at a thousand." 

Her breath caught in her throat. "Fifteen hundred.... Dear Gods, I didn't know it was that bad! Why the hell didn't Kang tell me! Argh, that draco's gonna drive me daft...." Shaking her head in exasperation, she walked right past the guards outside of Kang's tent and stepped inside, finding her friend pouring over maps. "Why didn't you tell me the odds were this bad?" 

Surprised at her sudden arrival, he jerked his head in her direction and fixed her with a steady gaze. "I would have thought that L-Sama would have filled you in." 

"Technically I'm here to stop the sorcerer because he's using Her Chaos to muck up the timeline. She didn't tell me any more than that." 

"Ah. Then I take it you got your information from Daeroh? And here you were saying that you didn't need a guard." 

"Kang...." Sighing, she glanced back at the sivak and nodded towards the entrance. "Privacy, please." When he saluted and oblidgingly exited the tent, she turned her attention back to the bozak Commander, shaking her head slightly as she stepped forward to rest a hand on his left arm, feeling the tension radiating from him. "Kang, no jokes. Tell me." 

Even Slith had never seen him show such a lack of confidence. "It's an impossible battle! We barely number two hundred, and we're up against over a _thousand_ trained soldiers! And we don't even know why we're fighting them!" His frustration broke loose as he slammed a fist into the table, the lantern that was on it jumping dangerously, threatening to topple. 

Worried, Lashana took hold of his left elbow and steered him towards a chair, pushing him down onto it before she placed her hands on his shoulders and worked her fingers against his scales, trying to undo the knots of tense muscle beneath them. Slowly, over the course of ten minutes, she felt him relax, a low sigh leaving him as he ducked his head forward, giving her better access to his neck and shoulders. 

It wasn't until she was certain that he was calm and collected that she spoke, her voice soft and reassuring. "Kang, I have faith in you. Your entire Regiment has faith in you. I know you'll think of something, _mellonamin_. You're a seasoned fighter, you have more experience than this sorcerer on the battlefield, and you have the friendship of a _Goddess _on your side! The Lord of all Dark Lords is _on your side!_ I'm here on official business, Kang. She doesn't do such things on a whim! And I do not plan on letting either of you down!" 

He smiled slightly and rose a hand to lay it over one of hers. "I know you won't. I'm sorry, I'm just in a rotten mood. You caught me at a bad time." 

"S'awright," she murmured, hugging his shoulders before pulling away and calmly going to look at the maps, spotting the mountain passage that Kang was pushing for. "How much farther?" 

"Over a month," he answered, groaning as he stretched his arms over his head, then pushed himself to his feet again. "That's including the attacks I'm expecting from the other army." 

Lashana frowned and tapped a nail against the map. "You'll make it." 

"Can you be so sure?" 

"Yes. Because I intend to personally see you and your army pass through here." Nodding to herself, she folded her arms over her chest and leaned her hip against the table. "So, what do you need me to do?" 

"Perform a miracle." 

"Let's stick within the realm of possibility, shall we? Power of a Goddess, mortal body. Remember?" 

He chuckled at how she had said that and smiled over at her. "How about a few Dragon Slaves then?" 

"_That_ I can do," she grinned, fangs gleaming in the light. "Now, you know what you should do?" When he shook his head, she smiled and pointed out of the tent. "Go see the babies. You need to remind yourself _why_ you're voluntarily going through this." 

His objection died at her stern frown, and he sighed as he rose his hands in defeat. "Alright. Alright, I'll go." 

"_Good._" She patted him on the shoulder, then turned and headed outside again. "I'm gonna go get me some warmer clothes out of a porta--" 

"Knight-sama, no!" Appearing out of nowhere, Xellos flew through the tent opening and tackled her before she could finish her silent incantation for her storage portal, the two of them crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs. 

Cursing fluently, Lashana kicked the Mazoku off of her and sat up just as Daeroh and the two guards burst into the tent, weapons drawn and teeth bared in angry snarls. She supposed that none of them noticed that neither her or Kang looked overly alarmed at the sudden appearance of the purple haired demon. As Daeroh pulled her to her feet and tried to push her behind him, she wriggled out of his grasp and went to stand in front of Xellos, who was still lying on the ground, eyeing the numerous weapons being pointed at him. "Dammit, Xellos. You've gotta stop pulling shit like this!" 

"But you mustn't use your portals!" he protested, actually fully opening his eyes as he looked up at her. "The sorcerer can sense them. He'll pinpoint your exact location in seconds!" 

"What? How? Daeroh, guys, it's okay. You can't kill him anyway, he's immortal." She gently pushed their swords away from Xellos' flesh, then helped the Mazoku to his feet. "Alright, what'd you find out?" 

"He can do more than use the Chaos, he can _feel_ it. He sensed us arriving here, but was too late to pinpoint where we appeared. If you use your portals...." 

"But my portals aren't tied to my use of the Chaos!" 

"Lashana-chan, you _are_ Chaos now," he scolded her lightly. "_Every_ _spell_ you do is tied to L-Sama's Chaos." 

"Alright, fine, but you're tied to the Chaos too, so why can you still teleport and not give away our position?" 

He had the nerve to look smug. "I'm a Mazoku." 

She glared. "I could so smack you right now...." Knowing that doing so wouldn't help the current situation, she sighed and rose a hand to massage her suddenly aching temple. "So now not only am I trapped here until the sorcerer's dead, I can't even get to my storage portal to get a chage of clothes and my weapons.... Lovely. Just absolutely fuckin' lovely." 

"We can supply you with weapons," Kang told her. "But clothing...." 

"Ne, Lashana-chan, I could bring you to a human city," Xellos offered as a pouch of coins appeared in his right hand, jingling softly as he shook it. "There's markets there I believe. And I can bring us anywhere in this world, so we can appear somewhere where it's late afternoon." 

"Where did you..." she trailed off and stopped herself. "Nevermind. I don't want to know. Alright, lets--" 

"Have you lost your mind?" Kang growled. "You can't seriously be thinking of just waltzing into some human city! You could be killed!" 

"Yare, yare!" Xellos murmured in amusement. "Don't you trust me to take care of Lashana, Kang-kun?" 

The glare that Kang sent him spoke volumes of promised pain. "No. And don't call me that!" 

"The Commander's right," Daeroh frowned, looking from the Mazoku to the elf. "It's a foolish risk." 

Sighing heavily, Lashana pinched the bridge of her nose and fought back the urge to scream at everyone. "Did I mention that this wasn't up for discussion? I'm not gonna do any of you any good if I freeze to death from the cold! Now I am going to that damned city and I'll be back in an hour. Xel, let's go!" 

"I'm going with you!" Daeroh protested, actually backing away a few steps when she turned and glared at him, her eyes flashing from blue to gold. Then, before he could protest further, Xellos stepped forward and wrapped an arm around the elf's waist, the two vanshing in a swirl of black power. 

And Kang started swearing. 

~*~ 

Lashana blinked as she and Xellos appeared in a shadowed alleyway, the sound of a low roar of a huge crowd of people reaching her ears as she pulled away from the Mazoku and looked around. Soft material looped around her head then, and she glanced back at Xellos as he tied a bandana around her head, hiding the point of her ears from view. \\Arigato,\\ she sent through their often unused bond, sensing his presence at the edge of her thoughts. 

His trickster's facade easily slipped back into place as he winked at her, then lead her into the fray, always making sure to keep close to her as her curiousity sent her to various booths, her eyes flitting over various weapons and articles of clothing. Already he could see a few people turning their full attention onto the white haired woman, and he did his best to always step into their line of sight, blocking their view of his charge, his fingers tightening around his staff as he extended a bit of his power to try to mask their presence in the market. 

Her enthusiasm was infectuous, however, and he couldn't help but be amused at how she readily bartered with the sellers, aquiring an archery set for five gold peices less than the asked price. As it was, he found himself carrying her purchases for her as they went, a task that he didn't overly enjoy, but one that he didn't object to enough to protest. 

She must have been an expert at bargaining, for everything that she purchased she got at a fantastic price, and once she had amassed a decent outfit and what she deemed an appropriate amount of weapons, he pointed out a tavern where she could get a meal and a room to get changed in. By now, he had taken to storing her purchases in the security of his own private pocket dimension, enabling him to keep a wary eye on the humans around them. While they played no real threat to himself, Lashana was still mortal, despite her almost Godly powers, and he had no wish to have a mugger come up on her and jab a knife into her. Though he shouldn't have bothered, for a quick glance in her direction showed that despite her obvious enjoyment of the market, she too was keeping a fair amount of her attention on the goings on around her. 

As he spotted a particularly nasty group of people, he whipped his cloak around her and guided her behind one of the displays, the two of them watching as what looked like a group of mercenaries passed by them, shoving city-goers out of the way as they did so. When he judged it safe again, he released her and gestured to the tavern with his staff, the jewel embedded in the wooden frame glowing slightly in the rays of the sun. 

"Ne, Xellos, why'd you volunteer to bring me here?" 

The question caught him off guard, and for a moment he merely looked at her through nearly closed eyes. "Why not? You said you needed clothes." 

"Yeah, but usually I have to threaten you into doing stuff like this." She frowned at him curiously. "What did you learn at the demon camp that's got you worried?" 

He returned the frown and tentatively opened their Link. //You shouldn't talk about such things openly.// 

\\I wouldn't have to if you just told me what happened,\\ she countered gently, gazing over at him. 

"Let's speak in here," he murmured, corralling her into a restaurant next to the tavern and heading over to a table in the back that was wreathed in shadow, taking the seat against the wall that would allow him to see the entire room and gesturing to a waitress as Lashana took her own seat across from him. "Tea," he ordered when the waitress reached them. "For both of us." 

He didn't speak again until after he had taken a sip of the slighty bitter drink, toying with the notion that L-Sama's tea tasted much better as he gazed at the elf from under his purple bangs. "This is not going to be as easy as you thought, Knight-sama." 

She frowned at his serious tone and leaned forward, cupping her mug in her hands. "What did you see?" 

"It's not what I saw, it's what I sensed. Knight-sama, the sorcerer is more than a mere mortal. He's much more dangerous than I thought, much more. He.... thrives on the Chaos power. He feasts on it like I feast on negative emotions. If you were to get close to him...." 

"He could rip my powers away! Gods..." Brow furrowed, she stared down into her tea, gazing at her own reflection. "But I can't just sit this out. I won't, there's too much at stake." 

"There's too much at stake if you do fight!" he countered. "If you die, he takes your place as Chaos Knight!" 

Indignation washed through her. "And if I don't, two hundred people will die!" She took a shaking breath to calm herself, then looked over at the Mazoku. "Xellos, I'd never be able to forgive myself. Besides, I can't go against L-Sama's direct orders." 

"I swore I'd protect you." 

"Then protect me. But don't ask me to sentence two hundred souls to death. I can't do that." 

Sighing, he set his cup back down onto it's saucer, then fully opened one gemstone eye to look at her. "Alright. I don't like it, Lashana-chan, but alright." 

"Good. And don't _you_ pull any stunts. You're tied to the Chaos too, you know." 

"Ah, but I'm not infused with it," he answered with a smirk, reaching out to lay his index finger on her nose. "I can use it, yes, but it doesn't radiate off of me. I am Mazoku first and foremost." 

"Then you have the advantage," she smiled, lightly brushing his hand away . "Don't waste it. And please, don't make me worry about you too, okay?" 

He returned the smile as he slid back into his trickster's mindset. "Hai, Lashana-sama." 

"Then let's get going, hmm? I promised Kang I'd watch over the camp tonight." 

"I'll join you," he murmured, holding a hand out to her as he rose, closing his fingers over hers as she placed her hand in his and gently pulling her to her feet, tossing a gold peice on the table to pay for their drinks before gathering his power and teleporting them back to the camp. 

The second they appeared, no less than five draconians grabbed them, hauling him away from Lashana with snarls that cut through the air like a well sharpened sword. Lashana, of course, didn't take being assaulted lightly. 

"You bloody dracos! Put me down! Hey! I don't know what your name is but if you stab Xel again I swear you will not like what I do to you! _Slith!_ _KANG!_ Get your guys under control!" Powers flaring, she waded into the fray and shoved and kicked until Xellos was free and calmly standing beside her as he fixed his rumpled clothing. She, meanwhile, was giving looks of death to anyone who was nearby. "Don't you pull this shit with me! You do that again and I'll drop-kick the lot of you into the latrine! _Kang! Goddammit!_" 

Daeroh and Slith burst onto the scene half a heartbeat later, pushing through the growing mob until they had reached her, Daeroh automatically moving to shove and kick some of the dracos away from her as Slith took charge. 

"What's the meaning of this?! Are you all daft, attacking an Avatar?! Fall in! _Now!_" Growling, he paced in front of the soldiers and glared at them all, glancing over his shoulder as Kang ran over to them. 

"What the hell's going on?! I heard her yelling clear across the camp!" Angry, he raked his gaze over the soldiers, then looked to Lashana, who still seemed ready to seriously injure someone. "What happened?" 

"Why the hell are they attacking us on sight?!" she demanded, eyes flashing in the darkness. "We just got back and it was like an insane mob! I damn near knocked the lot of them across the camp! Took a year off my life!" 

Kang growled and turned to look at the seven draconians that were in line. "I thought I made it clear that Lashana was not to be harmed! I told the entire Regiment that she was an elf and an Avatar of Chaos! The lot of you are lucky that she has the wits to _look_ before she attacks else you'd all be dead! You're just lucky that I can't afford to punish you! Else I'd have each and every one of you digging crap holes for a week! Now get out of my sight!" 

Arms folded over her chest, Lashana glared after each and every draco that had jumped her, narrowing her eyes and hissing when one of them looked back at her over their shoulder. Xellos' amusement washed through their Link, drawing her attention as she looked over at him wryly, seeing his smirk as he met her gaze. Sighing, she lowered her arms and huffed, looking over at Daeroh when he lightly poked her in the leg with his tail. "I'm alright. Thanks, by the way, for the save." 

"Not a problem, ma'am," he rumbled, eyeing her critically. "You're not harmed I hope?" 

"Nah. Just annoyed. Xel, where's the stuff I bought?" 

Smirking slightly, he held out his arms and teleported her purchases into his hands, chuckling when Daeroh's eyes widened at the amount of clothes and weapons that appeared. Bowing, Xellos handed the pile to the elf, who grinned and grabbed her things, looking around for a free tent. "Kang-kun's tent is free I believe, Lashana-sama." 

"Ah! Thanks, Xellos!" 

Kang grumbled. "Yeah, thanks, Xellos." Sighing, he headed after the elf, picking up a dagger that fell from her arms. "How much did you buy?" 

"It's not as much as it looks," she said cheerfully. "There's a pair of knee-high boots in here somewhere. I think it's the quiver of arrows that makes this look extensive. Do you happen to have an extra backpack around here?" 

"I probably have one I could give you," he frowned as they reached his tent. "I'll stand guard while you get changed." 

"Thankies," she beamed as she walked in and closed the tent flaps behind her, continuing to talk to Kang as she put on her new clothes. "Xel found out something not so good when he was staking out the other army." 

"Oh?" 

"Seems the sorcerer lives off of Chaos power. Might cause a bit of trouble for me, but Xel's got his heart set on protecting me from him." 

"A 'bit' of trouble?" he repeated dully. "That's putting it a bit lightly, don't you think?" 

"Maybe. But I think I can handle whatever comes my way. I've been training for something like this for over a year," she told him as she finished hopping into her soft dark brown leather pants, deftly tying off the belt that was attached to it before stripping out of her tee-shirt and pulling on the cream coloured short-sleeved tunic, which she tucked into her pants. The boots came last, the sturdy leather perfectly matching her new pants as she stomped her feet into them, smiling at the perfect fit of them. "You can come in now, Kang." 

He ducked through the flaps and immediately looked at her, rumbling in approval when he saw her chosen outfit. "You bought well. You'll be a bit cold with that tunic, though." 

"Got that covered," she smiled as she pulled out the cream of the crop, a beautiful forest green jacket that went down to her knees. It only really tied to cover her torso, which was perfect since the sword she bought was going to be hanging from her left hip while small pouches of Healing herbs were attached to the right side of her belt. Humming softly, she belted her sword on, then threw on the jacket, smiling at the warmth of it. "I also got myself a spare tunic. Long sleeved. I don't know where Xellos got the gold pieces, but damn, shopping in this world is fun!" 

Kang chuckled and shook his head. "Shopping is always fun to you," he teased as he dug out a free pack from one of his trunks and handing it to her, watching as she shoved her jeans and tee shirt into it, along with her spare tunic. As he watched, she slid a long dagger into the boot knife sheath, then slung a quiver of arrows onto her right shoulder, taking up the bow as she headed for the entrance. 

"I'll be staking out the camp from a tree," she announced, pausing at the threshold as she turned to look at him curiously. "Did you go see the babies yet?" 

"Uh, no, actually." When she gave him a look, he laughed and shook his head at her. "Alright, I'll go now. Walk you to your tree, m'lady?" 

She grinned. "Sure," she giggled, preceeding him out of the tent when he held the flap open for her. She sighed at the sight of Daeroh standing just outside the canvas and planted a fist on her left hip. "You. Go to bed." 

Daeroh shot a questioning look at Kang, who nodded. "Go ahead," the Commander said. "Unless you fancy climbing up a tree to keep an eye on her." 

The sivak frowned. "A.... tree?" 

"G'night," Lashana smiled, waving as she grabbed Kang's arm and dragged him away. "So, if you need me, Akhor will be staying with the kids overnight, he'll telepath to me." 

"Right. Either way, becareful up there." 

"Yessir!" Chuckling, she slapped him on the back, then wove her flight spell and flew to the top of the tallest tree, choosing a strong branch to land on as she slung the strap of her quiver of arrows onto a protruding knot from the trunk. Glad to get some time to herself, she gratefully sat herself down and leaned back against the thick bark, tugging the headband that Xellos had given her off, looking at the intricate designs in the dark material and smiling as she slid her fingers over the soft suede. Raising her head, she glanced around for a moment before opening the Link they had, tentatively reaching out to his presence. \\Xel?\\ 

There was a pause. //Hai, Knight-sama?// 

\\Where are you?\\ 

"Here." 

She looked up at the answer and rolled her eyes at the sight of him hanging upside-down from a higher branch. "What are you doing? Baka." 

He smiled. "Sore wa himitsu desu, Lashana-chan!" 

"Uh huh. Are you gonna stay up there all night?" 

"Possibly. There's a good view from up here. Are you sure I can't have a bit of fun with a draconian or two?" 

"Yes. Very sure." 

He huffed in disappointment and backflipped off the branch to land in a crouch in front of her, the branch she was sitting on shuddering a little at the added weight, his eyes opening fully and gleaming in the waning moonlight. "You're not very good at hiding your emotions, little elf." 

That surprised her. Granted, the rapid change of subject didn't help matters any. "What?" 

"Your emotions," he repeated. "I can sense your fear." 

She sighed at that, and twisted on the branch to dangle her legs over the long drop, staring down at the camp below. She didn't answer right away, instead she gazed down at a campfire, where Kang was playing with some of the babies, crawling around and growling like a bear as the little ones squealed in joy and crawled over him, making him laugh as he tickled some of them. "I don't want to see them die," she whispered as she rested her elbows on her thighs and propped her head on her fists. "This is getting more complicated by the day, and now, with this sorcerer feeding off of Chaos...." 

Another sigh left her as she shook her head, her bangs falling into her eyes as she gazed down at the draconians below, a soft wind playing with her hair, the coolness of it making her shiver a little. "I don't want their deaths in my nightmares." 

The mazoku stared at her for a moment longer, then moved to sit by her side, his staff resting across his lap. "Truly, I can't tell the future. I can't predict any one outcome, but I do know that you have a way of defying Fate. You've survived against huge odds, gained the friendship and power of a Goddess, and even managed to corrupt the heart of one of the most powerful mazokus. If there's a way to get through the coming trials, I know you'll find it, Lashana-chan." 

She smiled at that and gave him a sidelong glance. "Where'd that come from?" 

"Well, it's true," he muttered defensively, suddenly not liking how the conversation had turned. "You're a survivor. There's no secret in that." 

"No," she sighed. "I suppose not." 

"You sound almost disappointed!" 

A frown marred her features as she turned to look at him, her eyes troubled. "Do I? Oh. Sorry." 

Something in her eyes bothered him. "Knight-sama?" There was something important that he was missing, something that he should know.... "How have the nightmares been?" 

"Sore wa himitsu desu," she whispered humorlessly, glancing over at him to discover that he was less than pleased with her answer. "I can handle it." 

"I didn't ask you that." 

She sucked in a breath and held it for a moment before answering. "They've been getting a little intense. It's coming round to the first year anniversary." 

"Yare, yare! Time passes quickly," he murmured, looking at her closely for her reaction. "Why didn't you tell me they were getting worse? We're Linked, remember? I could help." 

"It's a little too.... personal," she told him, turning to stare down at the camp as she spoke, avoiding his gaze. "I just.... It's not something I can share." 

"Ah." They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the noise from the camp below. Through it all, the emotions he sensed from her seemed to get darker and darker, until his concern for her made him extend an arm around her shoulders and gently pull her against his side, glancing at her when she tensed. "I won't do anything, Lashana-sama." 

She sensed through the link that he was telling the truth, and gradually relaxed, allowing him to rest his arm across her shoulders. It was comforting, in a way, not being alone. Though she had never dreamed that _Xellos_ of all people would be offering any sort of comfort that wasn't perverted. She supposed that it only proved that he could be serious when he wanted to be. "Xel?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Arigato." 

"Oh? For what?" 

"For helping." 

"I wasn't sure I was helping." 

"Well, you are." 

"Ah." He paused for a moment, then lightly squeezed her shoulder. "Good. So! Whatever shall we do to pass the time? Let's see.... I spy with my little eye somethiiiing.... white!" 

Her lips twisted into a smirk. "It's me." 

"Aw! You guessed too quickly! Alright, let's try again. I spy with my little eye somethiiing.... silver. And look, it can fly!" 

"Eh?" Frowning, she pulled away from him and looked towards the sudden sound of wingbeats, leaning out as far as she dared as she watched a sivak sentry land near Kang and report in, her brows furrowing deeper when she saw Slith startle and begin to gather up the little ones. "Shit. Something's happening." Heart pounding, she gathered her weapons to herself and stood, perfectly balanced on the branch. 

"Ma, ma," Xellos mused, twisting to look at something to the west, the same direction that the sivak had come from. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that I was sensing another Mazoku!" 

She turned to follow his gaze, her hand falling to the hilt of her sword. "Demons. Damn, I was hoping they'd wait another day or two. You coming, Xel?" 

His bangs hid his eyes as he stood, a dark smile spreading over his lips. "But of course." 

"Kewl. _Raywing!_" Her yell echoed around her as she threw herself into the air, her flight spell allowing her to soar over the camp, the wind whipping her hair into her eyes as she drew her sword, her keen hearing already picking up the sound of battle. Xellos was at her side, dark energy already gathering around him, and she knew that he was looking foward to wreaking a little death and destruction. After all, the battle would be giving him a great emotional meal, and he wasn't above encouraging some of those emotions. She was just glad that he was on her side. 

An arrow zipped past her, it's tip grazing her cheek, just below her eye, and she gasped as she dove to the left, using the thick forest for cover as the air was sudden filled with arrows. Xellos appeared next to her, an arrow sticking through his chest, and she grimaced when he yanked it out with a wet squelching sound. "Are you alright?" 

"Perfect!" he smiled, his eyes hidden once again. "This is going to be fun! Fun, fun, fun!" 

She rolled her eyes, but didn't comment, choosing instead to speed up, weaving between trees with as much grace as she could muster considering how fast she was flying. An explosion up ahead gave her a sinking feeling, knowing that bozaks exploded when they were killed, and she scowled as she dove, spotting a few baaz and a sivak trying to hold back a small army of demons. 

Unbidden, a battle-scream escaped her lips as she ploughed into the demons, loosing a fireball at point blank range that sent them flying through the air, lightening the pressure on the four soldiers as she threw herself into the fray. Her sword caught the moonlight as she attacked, her blade slicing through air and demon alike as she ducked and wove, neatly avoiding their own blades as she introduced them to hers. 

A snarl from behind her gave her just enough warning to allow her to shift her weight and lash out with a roundhouse kick, breaking the demon's ribs before she finished her spin and neatly decapitated it. More surged forward, and these she rid herself of with a full power fireball, the explosion sending fire and smoke almost a hundred feet into the air. 

Roaring, First Squadron broke through the demon's lines, and she suddenly found herself surrounded by draconians, a little disappointed that her part in the fight was seemingly over in a heartbeat. 

"M'lady!" 

"Daeroh!" She lowered her sword and looked over at the sivak. "Give me an update!" 

"The babies are safe," he immediately told her. "The Commander has Second Squadron standing by while Support is back in camp, ready to defend the little ones. Slith was just behind me, and Gloth has command of First." 

"Good enough. I'm gonna scope things out. _Don't_ follow me. _Raywing!_" The air shimmered around her as she rose into the sky, her gaze cutting across the First Squadron, then to the seemingly retreating demons. A strangled scream and a quick check through the Link told her that Xellos was enjoying himself, but she still felt that something was wrong. 

Her intuition proved right when a cry rose up amongst the draconian unit, a baaz shooting past her as it was thrown into the air by an unseen force, and she cursed herself when her vision couldn't pierce the veil of darkness, at least not until that darkness _moved._ "Gods above.... it's _huge_...." Indeed, the high-level demon that strode into the moonlight was well over fifteen feet tall, and while it rather reminded her of the cave troll from the Lord of the Rings movies, it could seemingly weild a sword much more fluidly than a club. 

She found out the hard way that it could also do magick. 

The lightning spell slammed into her, pulling a scream from her throat as she was sent hurting backwards, her body impacting with a tree hard enough to topple it, sending her crashing to the ground. She lay there for a moment, comtemplating her new aches and marvelling that the Chaos power that had risen in her had done a good job of keeping her alive. Hands grabbed her, pulling her to her feet, and she weakly fought them off, staggering away from the draconians that had gathered around her. "Leggo, dammit! I'm alright! Bakas!" 

"But you toppled a _tree!_" one of them protested in surprise. 

"And it hurt like hell!" she retorted angrily, brushing dirt off of herself before brandishing her sword again. "Now get out of my way, I owe that.... that _thing_, a lot of pain!" 

"No. Gloth's ordered us to regroup, to fall back and join Second Squadron!" 

"Has he?" She glanced back at the demon and smirked. "Good. Get the word out, tell people to take cover! Go!" Fangs bared in a rather demented grin, she sheathed her sword and rose into the air, dodging some of the draconian's attempts to stop her as she flew above them. From up high, she could easily see the draconians retreating to the camp, where the other Squadron was waiting, primed for battle, and she smiled as she dove down and landed a good hundred yards in front of the army, eyeing the demons critically. 

\\Xellos! You'd better get out of the line of fire!\\ she sent through the Link as she rose her hands, power gathering around her, chasing back the darkness of night. "_Darkness beyond twilight. Crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the flow of time. In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness! Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power that you and I possess!_" Grinning, she threw her hands forward, smiling right into the face of the high-level demon. _Adios gringo. _"_DRAGON SLAVE!!_" 

The explosion rocked the ground she was standing on, threatening to make her knees buckle, but she held firm, a rather pleased smile gracing her lips as the backlash of wind and heat washed over her, her gaze fixed on the debris and dust that was slowly raining down into the crater where the demon had once stood. Extraordinarily pleased with herself, she turned and headed back to the camp, a certain bounce to her step as she walked. 

Draconians stared at her in shock as she approached, their lines breaking as they moved aside for her, a few actually reaching out to touch her arms as she passed by. Kang was waiting for her at the end of the 'walkway', and she grinned at him. "Heyla." 

"Iya! Knight-sama!" Frowning, Xellos appeared by her side, one hand gripping his staff. "You should be more careful! Any more power and the sorcerer would have tracked you down!" 

"I _know_ that," she retorted. "That's why I didn't go all out." 

"_That_ was you _holding back?!_" Yethik blurted as he and the other sub-commanders of the Regiment stared at her in shock. 

She shrugged. "Like Xellos said, I didn't want to attract the sorcerer's attention." 

Gloth visibly twitched. "You call _that_ not attracting attention?!" 

"Pretty much." 

Xellos smiled at the bozak's shock, drinking in his disbelief, shock and wary fear. "Yare, yare. One would think that you lot hadn't seen a sorceress before." 

"They haven't," Kang said. "No one on Krynn can do magicks like that. But this is a conversation for another day. Yethik, Gloth, get your men ready to go, we're moving out in an hour. I'm sure this was a test of our defenses, it'd be suicide to stay here any longer than nescessary. Lashana, I'd like you to go join Dremon, he's in charge of security for the babies." 

Lashana exchanged glances with Xellos, then shrugged. "Sure thing." 

Xel grinned and threw an arm around her shoulders, looking at Kang cheerfully and inwardly chuckling when the draconian twitched. "And I'll help!"   
  
  
  
  
  
  


TBC 


	4. Trust

_I don't own Xellos, Kang, Slith or the other Draconians._   
__ __

Trust   
  


Lashana meekly weaved her way through the organized chaos that was the camp, inwardly wincing at the near fearful looks that were being sent her way. That hadn't been her intent, she had wanted to keep them safe, not make them afraid of her. Sighing, she hugged herself and kicked at a stone as she walked, peeking into the tent that housed the babies before entering it, looking towards the sivak that was moving about the tent and helping a group of baaz place the babies into warm and safe wool sacks. "Um, Dremon?" 

The sivak turned at the call and barely kept himself from jumping at the sight of her. "Y-yes, ma'am?" 

Her heart fell at the fear in his voice. "Kang sent me to help. What can I do?" 

"Um, we've pretty much got everything in hand, ma'am," he answered, blinking when Thesik, who was curled up next to the small white dragon, abruptly broke out in troubled wails, protesting at suddenly being separated from the other babies. The Avatar moved forward before he could, and he tensed warily as she gently scooped the baby into her arms, murmuring to the little one in what he guessed to be Elvish. But it was the look in her eyes as she lightly tickled Thesik's belly scales that made him pause, the almost sad expression tugging at his curiousity as he approached her and the now giggling child. "You're good with them. The babies, I mean." 

She smiled humourlessly. "Is that so surprising?" 

"Well, a little. I suppose it's natural and all, with you being female," he paused when the small white dragon growled, then continued. Carefully. "I mean, you're an Avatar...." 

"So?" 

Her answer surprised him, he had expected a more high-and-mighty attitude from her. "Well.... aren't you.... above this?" 

Her response was to look at him and laugh. "Above me? Oh good Gods no! I'm not some ego-tripping she-demon!" Truly flabergasted, she shook her head, smiling a little when Thesik grabbed hold of a lock of her hair and tugged. "Look, I don't give a Goddess' damn about power. If I could give up this Avatar job then I would, but unfortunately, Fate seemed to have another idea for me. I don't consider myself 'above' anyone. I'm just an elf, and I'm just here to help you guys with a bothersome sorcerer. That's it." 

When he continued to look at her in mixed doubt and wariness, she gently pried her hair free of the baby draconians grip and handed her over to the sivak, smiling sadly as Akhor spread his wings and flew over to her, the small dragon landing on her right shoulder and curling around the back of her neck. Sighing heavily, she turned and headed out of the tent, the cool wind immediately sending her hair into her eyes. _Heyla, littling._

He frowned and crooned, nuzzling her cheek. ::What's the matter? You feel like you're ready to cry!:: When she mutely shook her head, he growled and loosed a loud roar, trilling deep in his throat when Kalamadea and Korin appeared nearby, summoned by the call. 

The two new arrivals immediately snuggled into the elf's arms, purring and crooning worriedly as she hugged them, her mind opening to them as they caressed her throughts with theirs, concern and protectiveness growing in them. It was Kalamadea that spoke first, his voice a soothing rumble in her turmoiled mind. ::Lashana? What's wrong? What happened?!:: 

_They're afraid of me,_ she sent weakly, her arms cradling them to her as she sniffled, hating the hot tears that stung her eyes when she saw a few dracos cautiously edge around her. 

"Lashana?" 

The sound of Kang's voice startled her, and she quickly rubbed at her eyes before turning to meet his gaze. "Hey. Dremon said he didn't need my help, but I'll stick around just the same. That okay?" 

He frowned at her, sensing that something was up. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw how protective and worried her three dragons were. "That's fine. Are _you_ alright?" 

"Yea--" 

::_No._:: Korin sent to him. ::Your stupid soldiers are afraid of her! Treating her like she's some kind of monster!:: 

"Korin!" She admonished him with a look, then sighed when he growled at her and snorted, competely unphased. "Kang, it's fine. _I'm_ fine." 

He ignored her, and instead turned to look at the draconians around them, growling low in his chest when he saw that what Korin had said was very true. "_Slith!!_" 

"Kang, no. Dammit, Kang!" Annoyed, she ran after him as he stomped through the camp in search of his Second-in-Command, and while the other draconians shied away from _him_, she took the opportunity to catch up and grab his arm, hissing at him. "Kang, _no._ Don't punish them for this! It's not their fault!" 

"But you're not some monster!" he protested, keeping his voice as low as he could. "You don't deserve to be treated like this!" 

"Kang, please--" 

::Why don't you just let him fix things?:: Akhor frowned, looking at her curiously. ::It'd make you feel better.:: 

"It's not their fault," she repeated firmly. "I don't want them resenting me because I sicced you on them. Kang, please. They have to trust me in their own time." 

He sucked in a breath and held it for a moment before sighing, seeing the logic in her request. "Alright. Alright, I'll lay off them, but I'm still telling Slith, and if Daeroh so much as gives you a sideways look, I want to know about it!" 

She smiled at his protectiveness and nodded. "Okay." 

"Alright. Good." Still angry and now unable to do much about it, he rubbed a hand over his face and sighed heavily. "Alright, I have a better idea. Come with me. Maybe I can...." 

"Kang, you told me to help watch over the babies, and thats what I'm gonna do," she paused and smiled weakly. "Even if it's from a distance." 

"I don't want to make this hard on you," he protested. "I asked you here to help, not to have your feelings beaten into the ground." 

"I'll be alright," she told him. "Worry about your people. Get them to safety, I can take care of myself." 

He hesitated for a moment, reaching out to touch her cheek lightly, hating the badly hidden pain in her eyes. "You're sure?" 

"Yeah. I'll go track down Xellos, then people will stay away for an entirely different reason." 

A chuckle left him at that. "Alright. If you need anything, come find me. Anytime." 

"I know." Smiling, she pulled away and turned to head back to the babies' tent, boosting Kalamadea up to her left shoulder while keeping Korin in her arms. _Korin, you'll cause me no end of trouble, littling._

::But it's not fair! They shouldn't be--:: 

_I know_, she sent to him. _I know. But I can't change peoples reactions towards me._

::It's still not fair,:: he grumbled, snuggling into her arms somewhat sulkily. 

_I know._

"Ne! Lashana-chaaan!" Grinning, Xellos fairly threw himself at her, his arms going around her waist as he attempted to tackle her, pouting when she managed to catch herself. Sensing the emotions rolling off of her, he straightened and peered at her, one gemstone eye opening to regard her. "Yare, yare." 

"I'm _fine_," she grumbled, brushing past him and studiously ignoring the protests that her dragons sent to her. 

"Oh, of course you are," he smiled, eyes upturning again. "I never said otherwise, Knight-sama." 

Oh how she hated it when he placated her like that. "Not now, Xel." 

He kept smiling at her while he reached for their Link, quirking an eyebrow when he found that she was trying to block him. Ah, how amusing, she was trying to keep him out. His smile turning into a smirk, he momentarily comtemplated merely forcing himself into her thoughts, then decided to merely wait it out. There was more than one way to get information out of her, nagging was one way, attaching oneself to her was another. 

Chuckling, he walked after her with a little bounce to his step, then linked arms with her. "Ma, ma, and you were in such a good mood before! Poor Knight-sama." 

She wrinkled her nose and shook his arm off of her. "Don't you start," she warned tiredly. "I'm having a bad enough day as it is. And where did you wander off to, anyway?" 

"Sore wa himitsu desu!" 

"That's what I thought," she sighed, hearing Kalama's laughter in her mind as she sent a glare in the Mazoku's direction. "Just don't torture anyone in the Regiment." 

He pouted. "Aw, ruin all my fun." 

"Ma'am!" 

Her shoulders slumped at the call, and she fought from looking dejected as she turned towards the call, sighing again when she saw Daeroh running over to her. "Please don't call me that," she said wearily. 

"Sorry," the sivak murmured apologetically. "Lashana. Did you find, Dremon?" 

She fought back the urge to growl. "Yeah. I found him. He didn't need my help. Why?" 

"I had heard that the Commander had sent you to him," he shrugged. "I thought that maybe you needed help." 

"No," she muttered. "No, I don't need any help." 

"Of course you don't," Xellos purred at her, resting his hands on her shoulders from behind as he smiled at Daeroh. "She's sulking." 

This time she _did_ growl. "I am not sulking!" 

::And let go!:: Hissing, Akhor twisted his head around and bit Xellos' hand, snarling when the Mazoku merely sighed in pleasure. ::Ugh, pervert.:: 

Xel smiled. "Yes." 

Daeroh frowned and eyed the elf critically. "Are you alright?" 

"I'm _fine._ I wish people would stop asking me that!" 

"Your wish is my command!" Xellos beamed, about to float into the air when she suddenly grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him back down to earth. "Ne?" 

She turned narrowed eyes onto him. "Don't. Cause. Any. Trouble." 

"Mou. You always ruin all my fun, Knight-sama!" 

"Uh, what, ah.... does he call 'fun'?" Daeroh asked warily, blinking when she growled and threw the purple haired priest to the ground. 

"He's an immortal masocistic sadistic pervert. You don't want to know what he calls 'fun'," Lashana warned him as she stepped past Xellos, sighing heavily when the trickster grabbed onto her leg and held on tightly, smiling as she dragged him along. "Xellos, I don't want to scare the locals more than I already have, but if you don't _let go_ of my leg--" 

"Ah ah! You can't use your portals, remember?" he reminded her happily, knowing that the threat of being thrown into a sensory deprived dimension was currently all hot air. 

"_Kisama...._" She dragged him a few more steps, then snapped, yelling as she savagely kicked the Mazoku into the air. "Alright, that's it! _Get off of me!_ I don't care if I'm gonna scare people anymore, it's a better fate than having you constantly hanging off of me! Off, off, _off!!_" 

Grinning, Xellos stopped his forward momentum and turned to float in front of her, hands laced behind his head as he sat in mid-air, legs folded. "There's the Lashana I know and love! It's much better to have you mad than have you depressed, Knight-sama!" 

"What's he talking about?" Daeroh frowned. 

"Nothing." Raising a hand to massage her aching temple, Lashana glanced around for a tree to slam her head against, then, when she didn't spot one nearby, she slumped her shoulders and headed back to the babies tent. "Daeroh, do you know when we're moving out?" 

"Less than an hour," he replied, following her curiously. "If you don't mind me asking, why would you be depressed?" 

"As tasty as fear is," Xellos answered, "Knight-sama doesn't like it when people fear her. Personally, I think it's rather flattering to have people afraid of you--" 

"That's because you feed off of negative emotions!" Lashana protested in annoyance, smirking when Kalamadea and Akhor hissed at the Mazoku. 

Xel nodded. "And it's quite delectible!" he agreed, grinning when Daeroh stepped away from him. "Aw, don't you trust me?" 

"Lashana, what _is_ he?" the sivak demanded, eyeing the purple haired priest warily. 

"I told you, he's an immortal, masocistic, sadistic pervert. But if you want to get technical, his race is called 'Mazoku', it roughly translates into 'monster', or 'demon'." 

Daeroh jerked slightly. "_Demon?!_" 

Xellos opened his eyes and winked. "Yes. But I'm not like those constructs that you're fighting. If I wanted to kill you all, you'd already be dead." 

"Xel, would you quit freaking people out?" Lashana sighed. 

"But I'm hungry!" 

She rolled her eyes, then turned her attention back to Daeroh, who looked very close to breaking into hysterics. "Xellos is probably almost as powerful as I am, but he doesn't use his full power all that often. And he's sworn to obey me, which is why he's not gonna do anything to _anyone_ in the Regiment. Right, Xel?" 

The Mazoku shrugged. "Hai, Knight-sama." 

Shaking her head slightly, Lashana looked away from him and turned her gaze to Daeroh. "Don't worry, the most he'll do is annoy the hell out of a few people." 

"Like Kang," Xellos smiled. 

The sivak eyed him to see if he was telling the truth, then averted his gaze when the priest merely smiled at him in that annoying way he seemed to have. While Lashana seemed to have grown used to the Mazoku, he was not planning on getting to know the creature well enough to become accustomed to it. Deciding that he didn't want or need to know more about this Xellos demon, he returned his attention to the other draconians around them, frowning when he saw that they were indeed showing signs of trying to avoid Lashana. "Stupid...." 

"Pardon?" 

He darted his gaze back to the elf and frowned. "They shouldn't be afraid of you. It's stupid. They want you to help them live, but they're not going to bother treating you like a fellow fighter." 

Lashana turned to look at him in badly veiled surprise, then smiled. "Can't blame them," she shrugged. "Kang says that no one on Krynn has power like I do. Being feared like this.... It bothers, me, yeah, but it's not enough to make me forget why I'm here." 

::Nevermind that you're trapped here until you destroy the sorcerer,:: Korin murmured into her thoughts, snorting when she swatted at him scoldingly. 

_He doesn't need to know that,_ she sent to the three dragons. 

::Chicken.:: 

_Shh!_

"You're brave," Daeroh murmured to her. "You deserve more than just thanks from us. I feel a little guilty now.... I had always thought elves were selfish creatures...." 

"Can't say anything to that," she shrugged. "I've never met an elf from Krynn. They may well be selfish. Truthfully, I don't really care. I've never had the urge to be with my people. Where I come from, I'm an outcast." 

"Oh? Why?" 

"M'only a halfblood. One of my parents was human." 

"And that makes you an outcast?" 

"Yup." 

The draconian snorted. "I'll never understand elves." 

"Elves scream when you remove their vital organs," Xellos said suddenly, earning wary looks from Lashana and Daeroh. "What?" 

Lashana sighed and rose a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, fighting back a headache. "Xellos...." 

He smiled cheerfully. "Hai, Knight-sama?" 

"Please stop talking." 

"Aww...." 

She muttered a curse under her breath then looked towards the babies tent when Dremon and the four baaz exited it, frowning when the other sivak balked a little at the sight of her. Daeroh rumbled disapprovingly, but glanced away when his superior looked his way, missing the warning glare that Dremon sent his way. Annoyed, Lashana placed her right hand on her hip and returned the glare, eyes flashing from blue to gold as she held Dremon's gaze. "Don't try to intimidate me," she grumbled, making sure he knew that she was irritated with him. She thought it funny when her three dragons roused themselves to hiss at him. 

Frustrated, she turned away from the security detail and headed towards the front of the camp, sidestepping out of the way of the oxen-driven cart that now held various weapons, tools and stores of food. If she couldn't do the job that Kang asked of her, then she could at least try to help out where she could. Another oxen cart was ahead of her, and these animals were skittish and unresponsive to their drivers' attempts to calm them, bleating and straining at the reins, threatening to topple the cart they were tethered to. 

Gesturing to Daeroh to hang back a bit, she walked forward until she could slip past the draconians that were trying to control the oxen and reached out to lie a hand on the nearest animals' shoulder, murmuring to it in Elvish as she walked around until she was facing the two great animals. While she was very much inside the reach of the two animals' horns, she made sure that her wariness did not echo out to the oxen, continuing to speak to them soothingly as she used a bit of her Elvish magickal traits to calm them, stepping back to look at them happily when they gave a final snort of annoyance, then calmed, allowing the draconians to approach them again. 

Smiling a little smugly, she backed away to let the soldiers do their job, then grabbed Xellos' cape when he started towards the animals, jerking him backwards. "Don't even _think_ about it," she warned him, seeing his tricksters smile as he gave her an innocent look, then floated into the air again, bobbing up and down in a rather irritating way. 

"How did you do that?" one of the bozaks that had been tending the oxen asked curiously, eyeing her with the wariness that most of the camp seemed to have. 

She smirked. "I'm a forest elf. We know these sort of things." 

He looked at her oddly, then returned her smirk with a small smile. "Thought you elves hated draconians." 

"I'm not from Krynn," she shrugged. "And I rather like you lot. Why else would I be here?" 

"I don't know. Personal gain? Sabotage?" 

Daeroh snarled at that. "Speak to her with respect!" 

"No, no. It's okay," Lashana murmured, raising a hand to stop Daeroh's forward motion before turning back to the bozak. "What do I have to gain from this? Kang is one of my closest friends, I'm here to honor that friendship, not because of selfish reasons. I would never hurt him like that. Anyway, those two oxen shouldn't give you any more trouble, just loosen the bindings on the right's ribs, they're a bit too tight." 

Her idea to gain the Regiment's trust bit by bit seemed to be working, and while she knew that camp gossip would spread the news of her actions across the army, she didn't overly mind. If there was a way to gain their friendship instead of their fear, she was hellbound to discover it. In the meantime, however. _Korin, could you do me a favor and go find, Kang? It looks like everyone's ready to go, and I can't see him anywhere._

::No prob,:: he sent as he twisted his head to look at her hopefully. ::Boost me?:: 

Chuckling at his plaintive tone, she playfully tossed him into the air, hearing his laughter in her mind as he snapped his wings open and gave them the crucial downbeat, tail cutting through the air as he soared over the camp in search of the draconian he knew so well. 

"I think it's time to get out of everyone's way," Lashana mused as she glanced around at the draconians who were already falling into lines. 

Oblidgingly, Daeroh led her out of the army's core until they were on the Regiment's left trailing edge. He felt that marching with her was going to be much more different than what he was used to, especially if that trickster kept following them everywhere like he was doing, always watching and always smiling. 

This was going to be a long journey.   
  
  
  


TBC 


	5. Demons in the Forest

**To whom it may concern.**

Yes, we're back. Tentatively. I personally trust about as far as I can throw a Volvo, but fans of these fics have asked that I continue to update here on However, this will not be the main place to find our fics. We will always update our Message Board waay before we even think about And if deletes any more of our fics without due cause and without explaination, we're gone.

Lashana Inferno

Chapter 5 

"I spy with my little eye..."

"Shut up," Daeroh growled.

"Yare, yare."

Lashana groaned. "Xellos, _please_, we've been playing this stupid game for _hours!_ Give it a rest already!"

"But I'm winning!"

Hands shaking, the elf started walking towards the trickster, hands outstretched towards his throat.

"Knight-sama," he asked. "Are you alright?"

She was inches away from throttling him to death when she suddenly paused, her gaze drawn to faraway forms in a pasture. "Look. Deer."

Daeroh followed her line of sight and frowned. "Those aren't deer."

Squinting, she rose a hand to sheild her eyes from the sun. "Then what are they?"

"I don't know. Stay here."

"Hmpft." Slightly annoyed by the order, she folded her arms over her chest and glared after him as he ran ahead to where Slith was. She, however, had more direct methods to figuring things out.

Reaching out with her thoughts, she nudged Korin with her mind, feeling the little dragon raise his head from Kang's shoulder as he blinked sleepily. _Korin. Korin, ask Kang if he knows what those forms are in the west._

:M'kay.:

She waited patiently, feeling curiousity coming from Akhor who was back with the four baaz who were carrying the babies, and from Kalamadea, who was actually resting on Xellos' shoulders, the small dragon annoyed with sharing shoulder space with the quiver of arrows she carried.

:He says he doesn't know: Korin told her suddenly, startling her a little. :But he's sending out some scouts to find out. He says not to do anything stupid.:

__

I resent that. Frowning, she stopped and peered towards those deer-like forms in the distance, the sunlight blinding her a little as she rose a hand to shield her eyes from it. "Something doesn't feel right..."

Xellos appeared beside her, lips at her ear. "I sense something nearby, Knight-sama. Something dark."

"Shit. I'm gonna go find, Kang." Mustering up her magick, she wove her flight spell and soared over the army, focusing on Korin's thoughts to guide her before she dove down to hover near the large bozak that she knew so well, frowning when she saw him giving out orders to various runners. "Kang."

"Some of the soldiers have seen shadows in the forest. Movement, just out of sight," he said as she landed next to him, her eyes worried, and he frowned as he turned to face her fully. "But there are tracks. Almost like horses."

"Almost?"

"There's no horse-scent anywhere. And my scouts say the tracks look strange. Deformed."

Her own misgivings doubled at that new information. "Xellos says he's sensing something dark. I know he's a pain in the ass, but I trust him on this."

Kang nodded at that, agreeing. "Alright. Churz! Get to Fulkuth, tell him to make sure the babies are safe. You, take Daeroh and the fruitcake, and follow your instincts. I'll keep Korin and you take Kalamadea, that way we'll have a go-between." When she nodded, he sucked in a breath and rested his hands on her shoulders. "Be careful. Maybe you should take Granak with you. Granak!"

This time she didn't argue, letting him act out his protectiveness. She knew that if things were different he would have gone with her, but here, he had other responsibilities to look after. \\Xellos? Did you hear?\\

/Hai, Lashana-chan. But I don't think it's wise to bring the two draconians./

She bit her lower lip at that, but held her tongue, knowing that this was not the time to argue with Kang. Instead, she levitated off the ground and waved at Daeroh to get his attention, gesturing to him to stay put and wait for her as Granak reported to Kang, then looked at her, one eyeridge raised when he saw her floating three feet off the ground. "What?" she smirked. "I have to compromise for being short."

He chuckled at that and saluted to his Commander before gesturing for her to lead the way, following her as she landed and sprinted over to a waiting Daeroh. "We're to guard her," he rumbled to the other sivak, who nodded, then swatted at Xellos, who was pinging his scales.

"Xel! C'mon, at least _try_ to be serious!" Lashana hissed at him as she smacked him with her bow, then headed away from the army, leaving him behind as she silently wove her way deeper into the forest they were passing through. She could still see the pasture through the trees, and she carefully reached up to tuck her hair behind her pointed ears, straining her hearing to it's fullest and frowning as she glanced back at the two draconians. "Hang back a bit! You're breathing too loud, I can't hear anything."

When they oblidgingly put a few meters space between them and herself, she tried again, slowing her own breathing so that it wouldn't interfere with her hearing, turning her head this way and that as she tried to pinpoint the creatures that she knew were out there. A low snort of breath caught her attention, and she gestured to the two draconians to follow her as she notched an arrow and crept forward.

She strained her Elven traits, moving silently through the underbrush and freezing when a breeze shook the bushes ahead of her, not even blinking as a wisp of her hair went into her eyes, eyes that were trained forward, towards the odd breathing she was listening to. _Kalamadea. Where are you?_

:Above you. A hundred feet.: Keen pale blue eyes scanned the ground below as he circled, wings cutting through a cloud. :There's a horse-like thing ten meters in front of you.:;

__

Thing?

:It's black, I can't tell details from up here. My guess, sixteen handspan high at the shoulder, black, looks like scales, they glint in the sun. It's waiting for you.:

__

Shit. She stayed frozen in place, mulling over her choices, then started sidestepping towards the left, making sure to avoid the twigs and dried leaves that littered the ground, carefully choosing each step, each movement. There was a moment of disorientation as Kalamadea let her look through his eyes, a moment where she faltered, then she was back in her body, reeling a little, but upright and steady. _Okay. Telepath to Daeroh and Granak, tell them what you told me. Tell them that I need Daeroh to circle around to the right, and Granak to follow me._

:On it.:

Waiting was killing her, but she forced herself to put up with it. It was only when she glanced back to discover that Kalamadea's message had been received that she moved forward again, arrow notched back and ready to fly as she took a deep breath, then plundged through the brush, coming face to face with her quarry.

It was _huge._ Nearly seven feet tall, the horselike demon snorted fire from it's nostrils as it turned it's litteral firey gaze onto her, black power oozing from it in waves as it bared ragged teeth and pawed at the ground with a sharp hooved forefoot. It's hide shimmered in the dim sunlight, seemingly absorbing the light rather than reflecting it, and while she saw the scales that Kalamadea had described, she also saw the razor sharp edges of them. A spiraling horn sprouted from it's forehead, gleaming dark power as the thing tossed it's head, light glinting off the knife sharp edge and tip of it. The creature snorted again, it's fetid breath lifting her hair from her shoulders as it took one step towards her, and she shuddered, trying to break her gaze away from it's horrible, _horrible_ eyes.

And a second monster stepped into her periferal vision.

"Lashana!"

The yell made her jump, the arrow flying from her bow and pinging off of the first monsters hide, eliciting a terrible scream of defiance from it as it lowered it's head and charged. Hands grabbed her from behind and yanked her back into the bushes as the thing just barely grazed her, it's scaled tail, like that of a snake, writhing in the air. She slumped back into Granak's arms for a moment, panting for breath, eyes wide in horror. "Oh Goddess, oh dear Goddess..." Those eyes, so much like the eyes of the Highlord that had killed her last year, had scalded her down to her very soul, nearly making her heart stop from sheer fright.

"Ma'am? Ma'am, are you alright!" Granak shook her a little as he pulled her back from the second creature, one arm around her waist the other holding his sword in front of himself. "Avatar!"

The yell jolted her out of her fear, and she shakily pried his arm from around her waist. "I'm okay, I'm okay! Go! Go warn, Kang!"

He hesitated. "But--"

"_Go!_" Shoving her emotions aside, she notched another arrow and darted to the right, aiming for the second creature and then letting the weapon fly, grimacing when, once again, the sharp arrowhead merely bounced off it's hide. _Shit._ Cursing, she slung the bow over her shoulder, dodging the second creature's lunge as she burst into the open, skidding to a stop when she saw two more of the things across the clearing. "Uh oh."

A flash of silver and then Daeroh was by her side, his back to hers as they stared at the four creatures that were circling them. "I think we're in trouble," he commented.

Even in a situation like this, her sarcasm was still going full tilt. "No shit! Y'think!" Eyes narrowed, she gathered fire into her hands and formed them into half a dozen spears. "_Flare Arrow!_" The attack slammed into the nearest monster, and she felt the blood drain from her face when it staggered backwards a bit, then shook off the attack and glared, snorting fire as it started to stomp towards her. "Shit. I think I pissed it off."

"How can you tell!" he cried, wings mantling slightly.

"It looks angrier than the others," she observed, drawing her sword and taking a ready stance. "This isn't gonna be easy."

"I know."

"Okay. On three?"

"Three!"

Loosing her best yell of defiance that she could manage at the moment, she lunged towards the closest demon, weaving an _Astral Vine_ spell onto her blade to strengthen it as she attacked, the sharp edge of her sword biting into the shoulder of one of the monsters... and sticking there. "Naturally," she muttered sourly, her breath leaving her in a gasp when it broke out into a run, bringing her along with it.

Screaming, she barely managed not to be trampled and drew a dagger, slicing at it's hamstring, then dodging the vicious kick it aimed at her. Her hip dragged over a rock then, and she used it to kick herself up into the air, twisting as she did so until she was seated on the things back, her hand still gripping the hilt of her sword. Of course, her presence wasn't appreciated, and as she was clinging to life while the monster bucked and kicked, it's head constantly turning to either side as it tried to gore her with it's horn.

As her teeth shook in her skull, she wriggled her sword free, then hung on with one hand while she rose the blade and drove it down into the base of it's neck, severing it's spine and killing it. Of course, as soon as it toppled over, she was sent crashing to the ground in an undignified pile, and she groaned irritatedly as she rose a hand to her head, making sure it was still attached.

And then she realised that the pounding she was hearing wasn't from her head. Hooves cut into the dirt next to her shoulder as she rolled out of the way of another monster, her breath coming in rapid pants as she rose to her feet and dropped into another stance, her gaze fixed on the thing that wheeled around to face her once again. She spent a split second wondering why the thing wasn't attacking before the pounding of hoofbeats from her right made her spin to face a second creature, her sword falling from her hands as she used her dagger to parry the horn that was aimed at her chest.

All it took was a single toss of it's head and she was sent flying through the air, the breath leaving her in a pained groan as she hit the ground hard, her ribs sending waves of pain through her as she coughed and rolled onto her side, gasping for air, drinking it in as if it was ambrosia. "Oooh, I've had enough of this..." Growling lowly, she staggered to her feet and shoved her sleeves up to her elbows, pulling on a bit of her power as black spines tore free of her flesh, her nails turning into black talons as her eyesight sharpened, fangs lengthening slightly.

A scream from Daeroh drew her attention, and she immediately spun and ran in his direction, a full power spell gathering in her hands as she neared him. "_Dynast Brass!_" Red power struck the earth around her in the five points of a pentagram, growing in power before rushing towards her target, encompassing the creature in flesh burning energy as it became trapped in the centre of the star, the spells full effect slamming into it head on, killing it instantly.

Gloved hands appeared from nowhere, latching onto her shoulders and pulling her out of the way of one of the last two creatures, arms curling around her as she was lifted into the air, well out of reach of the things wickedly sharp horn. "Xellos."

"Oya, oya. These things are like rodents!" the Mazoku muttered as he flew out of the things reach then alighted on the ground again, out of range but not out of the fight. "Kang-kun and the others have their hands full with a small army of these things on the opposite side of the clearing."

"Bastard things are hard to kill. And I lost my sword," she told him before she grabbed five shadow knives out of thin air and whipping them at a monster. "_Shadow Snap!_" The thing loosed a scream of hatred and rage as the daggers imbedded themselves into it's shadow, freezing it in place. She left that one for Daeroh to deal with as she turned back to Xellos. "Can you handle things here?"

He smiled darkly and opened his eyes to look at her, dark hunger in those amethyst orbs. "With pleasure."

"Good. Daeroh! Leave it! We've gotta get back to the others!" She left the screams of the things behind her as she grabbed Daeroh's arm and wove her flight spell, speeding towards where the sound of the Regiment's fight could be heard, her heart lodging in her throat when she saw Kang in the midst of the battle. Leaving the sivak at the edge of the army's lines, she dove and slammed into one of the things that was trying to make it's way to one of the baaz that had the babies, using her full strength to shove it backwards before she slashed the spines on her arms across it's face, taking out it's eyes.

Picking up a dropped sword, she rose her voice in a scream and attacked, focusing a spell through the blade as she sunk it into the things' side and loosed a full power lightning spell straight into it's heart. It's death shriek was horrible, and she grimaced in pain as the sound grated along her nerves, making her jerk the sword loose and back away, raising a hand to her head in agony. _Gods that's terrible._

Kang saw the elf stagger backwards and roared out a warning to her when yet another creature bore down on her, and he shouldered one of his guards aside as he threw his battleaxe, the weapon slicing through the air before it impacted with the monster with enough force to send it crashing to the ground. As she rose her gaze to his in surprise, he ran over and jerked his weapon free of the dead body, using a wing to push her into the circle of his body guards. "Are you alright!"

"Yeah! The scream dazed me for a moment. Whoops, just a sec. _Freeze Arrow!_" Ice incased the creature, it's scream dying on the winds as she walked over to it's entombed form and kicked it, the ice and the creature within it shattering into millions of tiny pieces.

Ignoring Kang's order to get back into the bodyguard's protection, she ran forward and loosed a full power fireball right into the face of a third, killing it on contact before she twisted on an ankle and slashed at a fourth's face, dodging the hooves that cut through the air as the creature reared. A spear flew through the air, grazing her cheek before it imbedded itself a full foot into the things chest, ending it's life. Spinning again, she gathered ice into her hands and formed them into a dozen sharp spears, power dancing around her as she leapt into the air and lobbed the attack at seperate targets, not bothering to watch as twelve dark forms fell and stilled.

The sound of air displacing drew her gaze to the air beside her, and she blinked at Xellos for a moment before accepting the sword that he held out to her. "Thanks."

He smiled and nodded, the darkness writhing around him as he vanished again, a scream of pain coming from the attackers moments later.

She, meanwhile, sheathed her own sword before lobbing the spare at the head of one of the demons, killing it before it reached the bozak it was aiming for. Not waiting to receive thanks, she turned and raised her hands, energy gathering around her as she stepped forward, golden power swirling around her. Oddly enough, by doing so, she drew the attention of all the creatures, who immediately stopped their attack on the draconians to turn towards her in apparent surprise.

As the thirty or so monsters all turned towards her, Lashana closed her eyes and murmured the words to a spell that would boost her magicks, enabling her to use powerful spells without having to use the Chaos within her. "_Lord of Darkness of the four worlds. I call upon you! Grant me all the power that you possess!_" Screams came from all around her as the creatures reared, flame flickering from their eyes as they all lowered their heads and charged towards her, sunlight gleaming off of the numerous killing horns that were now all aimed at her body.

Heart pounding, she aimed the palms of her hands towards the ground at her feet, and, just as the draconians behind her roared out frantic warnings to her to run, she loosed the magick that she had gathered to herself in one horrific spell. "_Mega Brando!_"

The effect was awe inspiring. Before any of the monsters could react, the spell infused itself into the ground beneath their feet, then exploded with the force of a full power Dragon Slave, the ground essentially turning into one huge land mine. Splinters of stone became airborne weapons, cutting deep into the scaled flesh of the creatures, boulders breaking bones and crushing flesh as the ground disentigrated under them, dropping them into a crater that measured twenty feet deep and fifty feet wide.

Eyes wide, Kang watched as the rest of the debris rained back to the ground, the cloud of dust slowly being filtered away by the wind, and his hand tightened on the hilt of his battle axe, his gaze searching for any sign that Lashana had survived the spell. Just at the point where true panic was beginning to seize him, the sound of a teleport drew his gaze upwards, his breath leaving him in a sigh of relief when he saw Xellos and Lashana appear out of thin air, the elf securely cradled in the Mazokus arms.

Grinning, Lashana winked and gave everyone around her the victory sign. "Yatta! We won!"

There was a pregnant pause, then a roar echoed out through the army, draconians yelling and hooting in excitement and victory, the cheer echoing on the winds, and she smiled in relief as she relaxed a little, then yelped when a certain someone's hands started wandering. "Ack! Hands in the wrong places!" Squirming free, she grabbed Xellos by his shirt and drop kicked him into the crater. "Don't. Grope. Me! _Pervert!_"

There was the sound of a contented sigh from the crater. "Arigato!"

"Ugh." She shuddered in disgust and yanked her jacket back into place, blinking when a bronze form loomed in her vision. "Hi, Kang!"

"I swear, you just throw orders to the winds, don't you?" he asked, shaking his head in exasperation when she smirked and shrugged. "You could have been killed!"

"By what? The spell or the wacked out horse-things?"

"Both!"

She grinned and patted his chestplate. "Nah. You know I'm stronger than that, Kang. No worries. Besides, as annoying as Xellos is, he comes in handy once in an while."

"I knew you cared!" Smiling in his tricksters way, Xellos reappered and moved to glomp her, grunting when she rose a foot and planted it against his chest, stopping his forward motion.

"No touching," she announced, shoving him away before straightening, raising a hand to her head when the view around her swayed sharply. _Oomph... that boost spell took a lot out of me..._

Kalamadea and Korin circled her from above, crooning at her in concern as Kalama dipped a wing and dove down to her, carefully landing on her left shoulder. :You okay:

__

Yeah. Just dizzy. I'll be alright. Sighing, she rubbed at an ache in her arm while she watched Kang give out orders to the Regiment, runners coming and going as orders and questions were delivered. A silver form moved into her line of sight then, and she smiled as Daeroh reached out to touch her elbow, the sivak's gaze conerned and curious. "Heyla. You okay?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," he rumbled, eyeing her critically. "You look tired."

"Spells use a lot of energy," she shrugged.

Kang turned back to her once he was finished, looking at her worriedly. "You look like you need some sleep," he frowned, raising a hand to her cheek and running the curve of a talon over her soft skin. "Why don't you go hitch a ride on one of the wagons. Get a few hours rest."

"Maybe later," she said evasively, smiling up at him when he frowned at her. "Besides, I wanna make sure we got all of those things."

He hesitated a bit, then smiled. "Nice try. Scouts are already reporting in that the forests are quiet again."

"Nuts. Alright, fine. I'll go." When he grinned in victory, she grumbled sourly and headed for one of the nearest wagons, Kang at her heels. While he spoke to a few of the oxen masters, she hopped up to sit on the edge of the wagon, leaning back against a bag of oats, and as Xellos hopped up to sit beside her, she let her eyes flutter closed, allowing herself to drift off into a deep sleep.


	6. Crystaline Plans

"Lashana? Lashana, wake up!"

The voice dragged her out of what could be categorised as a fairly content dream. A rare occasion, one that she treasured dearly. Whoever was waking her had better have a very good reason. She toyed with the thought that if it was Xellos she'd go Avatar on his arse and send him into that sensory deprivation dimension, sorcerer be damned.

Instead of the purple haired fruitcake however, she found herself blinking up into a pair of concerned ruby eyes, and as the rest of her fought to return to wakefulness, she slowly became aware of the hand that was against her cheek, fingers lightly caressing her skin. "Wha... Kang?"

"Hi," he murmured, gallantly sweeping a wing behind her to help her sit up. "You've been sleeping for hours."

"Where're we?" she mumbled, still mostly asleep as she ran her hands through her hair then reached for her sword, blinking when her questing fingers encountered only empty space where the weapon should be.

"We stopped for the night," Kang told her, amused by the look of confusion on her face as she glanced around for her sword. "You were still sleeping, so I brought you to my tent. You were speaking in your sleep, was it a nightmare?"

"No... no, it wasn't. It was... normal."

He chuckled softly. "You sound surprised."

"I am," she admitted, her voice strengthening as she achieved full wakefulness. "It's rare that I don't have a nightmare." Yawning softly, she rose a hand and rubbed at her eyes, then shoved her bangs out of her eyes, sighing contentedly. "Gods, that 'boost' spell took more out of me than I thought."

"I figured as much," Kang said as he rose from where he had been sitting on the edge of his cot, striding across the tent to where a choice morsel of meaty bone sat on a table, along with two mugs of ale. "We found some actual deer, by the way. It's the first real meal my men have had in over a week. It's a little burnt, but I'll happily share with you."

She smiled, touched by the gesture, and pushed herself to her feet, stretching her arms high above her head with a soft groan. "Sure. I'll have a few bites. Don't suppose you lot have coffee?"

He laughed. "I doubt it even exists here."

"Damn." When he chuckled again, she rolled her eyes and walked over to join him, plunking herself down on the free chair and accepting a piece of meat that Kang ripped off the bone and handed to her. "Thanks. Did my littlings get to eat?"

"They're tormenting the cook as we speak," he smiled, watching her as she laughed then began eating the large piece of meat, obviously ravenous. "Xellos vanished again, by the way. Haven't seen him since you fell asleep."

"The last thing I remember," she muttered in between mouthfuls, "was him sitting beside me on the wagon. I guess he got bored. He's got a low attention span when he's not torturing people."

"Do tell," the draconian rumbled wryly, ripping off another piece of meat for her before tearing into his own meal, sharp teeth stripping the meat from the bone.

"Oh, hush. I know you don't like him, but he's been helping me a lot lately."

"I know," he sighed, lowering the bone to the table as he looked over at her. "And that's the only reason I put up with him."

"And I appreciate it. Really."

"Good. Because he's driving some of my men insane. I heard about the 'I spy' fiasco."

"Three hours of it," she muttered, chuckling a little as she shook her head. "I was ready to strangle him myself."

He watched her for a long moment, then leaned forward to stare at her. "Why do you put up with him, Lashana?"

The question startled her, and she spent a few breaths mulling that over before answering. "Why? I don't know. Maybe because he helps me stay sane, despite the nightmares and the Chaos inside me. He makes me laugh when I need it, and despite what you usually see, he can be very serious when he wants to be. He helps me understand what I am now, and what this power is, and how to control it without letting it destroy what I am..."

Kang studied her as she spoke, then met her quiet gaze when she finished, staring at her a moment longer before reaching out to brush her bangs out of her eyes. "If he helps you, then that's good enough for me. Now, I wanted to ask you if there was a way to mask the army's presence with a spell."

"Mask? As in hide?" When he nodded, she nibbled on a leftover piece of her meal and frowned. "I _could_ make a sort of talisman that could sustain such a spell, but I'd need a sizable crystal to do it."

"What kind?"

"Uhh... preferably quartz. About the size of your fist."

He grimaced. "That's not going to be easy to come by."

"Maybe. But there's a few tricks I can try before we start worrying about it. After I finish my meal though. Doing magick on an empty stomach is just asking for a hangover without the morning before."

Chuckling at the description, he returned his attention to his own meal, pausing only to push the mug of ale over to her. "It's not best, but it's better than nothing."

Licking the rest of her meal from her fingers, she wiped her hands dry on her pants then grabbed the mug, sniffing it delicately before taking a sip, doing her best not to let her disgust show. "Uh... better than what, exactly?"

He laughed. "It's an aquired taste. Even then, the first mug always tastes like horse piss."

"Okay, I'm not thirsty anymore," she grumbled, looking up as a knock sounded on the outside tent post.

"Come in!" Kang called, grinning when Slith entered. "Pull up a chair."

Lashana smile and pushed her mug towards him. "Here. Drink up."

The sivak arched an eyeridge at her as the Commander finished off his meal. "You're not having any?"

"Uh, no. Sorry. Not my kind of drink."

He chuckled. "Tastes like horse piss, huh?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Pretty much."

"Ah, that's okay," Slith grinned. "Leaves more for us!"

Kang laughed at the expression on Lashana's face, then reached over and chucked her under her chin, grinning when she swatted at his hand. "Ah, you don't mind that much. I know you. You're not a big drinker."

"Yeah, I know. I just miss my coffee, and not being able to use my portals is starting to tick me off something horrible." She frowned and rubbed at a bruise on her upper right arm. "Can't even use my full power."

Slith blinked. "All those spells, that wasn't your full power?"

"Nope. Holding back. Xellos said that if I use my full power, the sorcerer will be able to pinpoint where I am, and since I'm with you guys, well... I'd rather not have the full force of psycho wack-jobs army breathing down my throat."

Kang nodded. "Not while we have the babies. Even then, we're no match for what that socerer's conjured up."

Lashana's gaze darkened. "No. But I am. And if worse comes to worse, I'm gonna give that asshole a run for his money."

Seeing her eyes flash gold, Slith froze for a moment, mug half-raised to his mouth, his glance darting from the elf to his Commander, who seemed unphased by the sudden anger that was radiating from her. Shrugging, he took a deep drink of his ale, then set the mug down. "Don't put yourself at risk, Elfy."

"Me? Nah."

"Yes you," Kang frowned. "Don't you take any stupid risks. Else I'll have your hide."

She smirked. "Ya gotta catch me first, hun. And I know better than to stay in one place when you're on the rampage."

Slith hid his grin behind his mug as he drank, avoiding Kang's glare with practiced ease as he swallowed then glanced at Lashana, who snickered, then calmly returned the Commander's gaze.

"What?" she asked innocently, the corner of her mouth quirking upwards when Kang gave her an exasperated look. "I did nothing. Anyway, the quartz? Does it occur naturally here or do I have to get Xellos to bring me to another human city?"

"I think it's more natural higher up in the mountains," he mused, idly rubbing a hand over his jaw. "We're too far down in a valley to get any sort of quartz..."

"Damn. That means I gotta find me a mountain. Or a mine."

Kang's head shot up at that. "That's brilliant!" he shouted, leaving the two at the table while he rose to his feet and went over to a separate table to rifle through maps.

"I think we missed something," Slith muttered dryly, earning a grunt of agreement from Lashana.

"There's an abandoned mine nearby!" Kang told them as he rejoined them, laying a map flat on the table and tapping a talon against the parchment. "It's about a days trek eastward. I could send--"

"I can find it on my own," she interupted gently. "I don't need help."

"No, but if you can't use your full power, then I'd rather you not go alone. And Xellos doesn't count!" When she muttered under her breath, he shook his head and returned his attention to the map. "You could take Dremon, Raskk and..."

"I volunteer," Slith said suddenly, drawing both their gazes. "Neither of them will have enough guts to yell at her if she takes stupid risks."

As Kang nodded in agreement, Lashana huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "You know, I'm really starting to resent the bad rap I'm getting from you two."

"To quote you: cope," Kang smiled, completely unphased by the murderous look that she gave him. "They're going with you, and that's final. You sneak out, they'll come after you. And then when you come back, I _will_ catch you, and you _will_ get to hear me yell at you for a good hour or so. Is that clear?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Crystal."

"Good. You leave first thing in the morning."

She stiffled a growl and pushed herself to her feet. "I'm gonna go find my dragons," she muttered as she spun on her heel and stalked out of the tent.

Slith sipped at his ale. "I think you pissed her off, sir."

Kang grunted. "Won't be the first time."

:You're going where: Akhor asked from where he was lying on her lap, his wings folded tightly against his sides as he rested on his back, letting her idly scratch his belly.

__

A mine, she sent to him as she leaned back against the tree she was sitting under and sighed heavily._ It's a day's trek eastward._

:And you're doing this for a rock: Korin frowned from where he was curled up in the crook of her left arm.

__

Quartz. It's a crystal.

:Crystal, rock, same thing.:

:Not it's not: Kalamadea chastised his brother from where he lay across the elf's shoulders. :It's for a spell then:

__

Yeah. For a shield spell, for the entire army.

:Woof: Korin muttered. :That's gonna take a lot of energy to enchant! You sure you're up to that:

She frowned and tried to peer through the trees branches to see the stars. _I don't think I have a choice. There's no other way I can do a spell like that without drawing huge amounts of attention. I can't use the Chaos openly, remember?_

:Yeah...: Akhor sulked for a minute, then righted himself and fluttered his wings, before settling down again. :I'll stay with the babies. I think Thesik's gotten used to me, she can't seem to fall asleep unless I'm there. And answer me something, why do the draconians act weird around her? And why doesn't she have wings:

__

She's an aurak. And the guys are antsy around her because male auraks are... well, egotistical maniacs who thrive for power and murder.

:Ah.:

:I'll stay too: Kalamadea said after a few breaths of silence. :Korin, you go with her, okay:

The green dragon chuckled rather nasitly. :Yup.:

__

Must you all plan things without including my opinion?

:Yes: Kalamadea chuckled, crooning as he nuzzled her cheek lovingly. :But only because we care about you.:

__

I suppose that's okay then. Smiling, she reached up and scratched his chest, listening to his low thrumming purr. The sound relaxed her, and she shifted to let herself fall backwards so she was lying on her back, her hands laced behind her head as she stared up through the trees branches to the stars high above. _I'd be so much easier if Kang would just let me go alone._

:Easier for who: Akhor whispered into her thoughts. :Easier for you, maybe. But not for him. He'd worry, you know that.:

She sighed heavily. _I know. I know..._

The little white dragon curled up on her stomach. :Then stop fighting him.:

__

Yes, **mother**, geez.

The three dragons laughed softly and shifted to curl up on her, seeking warmth in the cool night. Akhor rested on her stomach, Korin on her right shoulder, and Kalamadea on her upper chest, his head resting on the spot over her heart.

They lay there listening to the bustle of the camp for well over half an hour, dozing lightly under the stars as they all relaxed, knowing that they had to get sleep whenever they could, and as she listened to her the mental mumblings of her three dragons, Lashana let a small smile creep over her lips, glad to have this one small moment with her little ones.

The moment, however, was ruined when a shadow fell over them, blocking out the light from the nearby campfire, and she opened a single eye to look up at Daeroh. "Hullo. Either sit or go away."

"Well hello to you too," he chuckled as he moved to the side and sat down near her head, looking down at her curiously. "So, why are you lying here, anyway?"

"Quiet moments don't come often lately."

He winced. "I'm sorry. Am I bothering you? I didn't mean to--"

She looked at him upside-down. "You're _not_ bothering me. Don't think stuff like that." She shifted a little, grimacing at the rock she was lying on, then looked at him again. "You talked to Kang or Slith yet?"

"Yes. I take it you're annoyed?"

"Annoyed." She laughed. "Yeah. I suppose you could put it that way. Kang worries about me too much. But I don't have the heart to argue with him and win today. For one thing I don't have that much time on my hands, and for another, we'd probably start fighting with spells, and I don't think blowing up half the camp will be constructive."

Daeroh blanched at that. "I can understand that."

His tone made her snicker. "Don't worry. I wouldn't blow up the camp," she reassured him. "Not _this_ camp. Now, if I could sneak up on the _sorcerer's_ camp, now _that_ would be a completely different matter!"

He chuckled at that. "I think any of us would take a chance like that if it was presented."

"Mn." She yawned and scratched at the nape of her neck, flicking a dried leaf out of her hair before replacing her hand behind her head. "Do you know anything about this so called 'mine'?"

"Sorry, no. Nothing other than what sub-commander Slith told me."

"Damn. I hate going wandering somewhere without knowing what I'm getting into. Ah well, I'll get Korin to scout the lay of the land when we get there."

"Which one is he?"

"The green one, on my shoulder," she pointed to him, then to his two brothers. "Kalamadea is blue and Akhor is white. Kalama's the oldest of the three, Korin's the middle-child, as it were."

"They look to be around the same age though."

"They are. But they were all born out of the same egg, oddly enough. There's a three minute age difference between Kalama and Akhor." Akhor chose that moment to mutter in his sleep and roll onto his side, tugging the hem of her tunic loose from her pants as he pulled the material close to himself, yawning as he resettled himself, one wing spread out and the other folded tightly to his back. "You don't have to stay here, Daeroh. Go get some sleep."

"No. There's still some that think you're just another elf. If you're going to fall asleep here, you shouldn't be alone."

She sighed heavily, then slowly sat up, reaching out to catch both Akhor and Kalamadea in her arms as Korin merely deployed his talons into the shoulder of her jacket, holding on as he merely shifted to lie on her shoulder, his tail curling around her throat to anchor himself. "Alright. Where would you rather I crash for the night?"

He smiled and rose to his feet, wings fanning himself a little as he gestured for her to follow him. Making sure to glance back to make sure she was there, he led her through the camp until they were at a small tent, and he ducked into it, holding the flap open for her, letting her see the two cots at either side of the tent, well away from each other.

"Ugh, fine." Knowing that staying awake all night would make her cranky and dangerous to be around in the morning, she moved to the furthest cot, the one that didn't have weapons lying near it, and did a controlled collapse onto it, setting Akhor and Kalamadea close to herself as she rolled onto her left side, letting Korin nest in her hair as she pillowed her head on her arm and closed her eyes. "Now will you _relax_ and get some sleep? We have to be... coherant in the... morning..."

Despite her earlier hours long sleep, she found that her eyelids were simply too heavy to keep open any longer, and, figuring that more sleep could only make her feel even more refreshed, she curled up with her dragons and allowed herself to fall asleep again, listening to the soft telepathic murmurings from her sleeping littlings.

Morning was a rather peaceful moment. The camp's bustle was a low background roar of conversations and sounds of various draconians packing up their gear for the day. While Daeroh had been up since the break of dawn, Lashana was still enjoying a deep sleep, curled up on the cot with her three dragons draped over her, the four of them lulled into peace by the mental sounds of each others dreams. 'First thing in the morning' was not a phrase these four were intimate with, hence the fact that Slith, deciding to brave the storm, took it upon himself to rouse the Avatar.

"**_Rise and shine you lazy maggot!_**"

With a shriek that made all within range wince in pain, Lashana bolted upright and launched a fireball in Slith's direction, gasping for breath with her eyes wide as the dust settled to reveal the soot covered sivak. Now awake and wondering if she was in the middle of a heart attack, her not-a-morning-person attitude took over with full force, her anger buoyed by the rage that was radiating from her three dragons, who were hissing at the sivak angrily.

"_You asshole!_" she screamed, aura flaring, eyes flashing gold as her voice echoed with terrible rage and power. "What the _fucking hell_ are you trying to do to me!"

He griamced and rose his hands as if to defend himself from her. "Lashana--"

"**_GET OUT!_**"

Knowing better than to push his luck, he wisely retreated, wiping soot and dirt from his scales as he exchanged wary looks with Daeroh, who now looked like he was afraid to enter his own tent. "I pissed her off," he muttered, instinctively snapping to salute when the elf stalked out of the tent, her eyes gold and elliptical and promising pain to anyone who came near her. "Uh... ma'am?"

She snarled at him, fangs bared, and stomped past him, her three dragons turning to echo her snarl, glaring at the two sivaks venemently. Her mood fairly destroyed for the day, she stalked through the camp, heading for Kang's tent, vaguely aware that Daeroh and Slith were following her from a distance. Still remembering a fraction of her manners, she paused at the outside of the tent flaps and kicked at the post, waiting a moment before a call allowed her entrance.

"You," she growled as she walked into the tent, "nearly lost your second in command."

Kang looked over at her as he finished strapping on his breastplate and arched an eyeridge. "I was wondering why you were screaming like that," he murmured, watching as she savagely grabbed her sword off of a chair and shoved it into it's sheath. "You're not gonna kill him are you?"

"I'm debating!"

:I say we fry him: Korin telepathed, flame licking at his fangs.

Hearing the little dragon's venement growl, Kang turned to frowned at the dragons that were clinging to her, easily seeing the signs that they were in as much of a bad mood as she was. "What happened?"

"Psycho sadist boy decided to scream me awake!" Lashana fumed as she slung the quiver of arrows onto her back then snatched up her bow. "I damn near had a heart attack! Fireballed the sonna va bitch too!"

"Fireballed? Oh lords, is he alright?"

"Yes," she drawled. "Lucky for him and you that I didn't use my full power. But if he _ever_ does that again--!"

"He won't," he assured her. "I'll talk to him myself. Alright? Are you going to calm down now?"

"_I **am** calm!_"

"Oh, yes," he muttered. "You're all sorts of calm all over the place. Lashana, you're wearing a chasm in the ground with your pacing and you're radiating the urge to throttle someone. You're not calm. Are you going to be like this all day, because if you are then you're going to frighten Raskk out of his scales."

She growled out something in Elvish that didn't sound all that polite to begin with, then stopped pacing and huffed, her arms folding over her chest as she glared at a spot on the inside canvas of the tent. "Alright. Alright, I'll be civil."

"Good." Smiling, he walked over to her and swatted her dragons off of her before playfully chucking her under her chin, meeting her defiant blue gaze as he loosly wrapped his wings around her. "You becareful out there."

The concern in his voice soothed her frayed nerves and ragged temper, and she sighed as she relaxed and rose a hand to his cheek, smiling slightly. "I'll be fine. I promise."

"I'll hold you to that," he rumbled, tucking her long hair behind her ears, dimly aware that the three dragons were now perched on the high beam of his tent, watching him warily. "Now, you'll be travelling with three sivaks, so you'll be able to cover ground quickly since they can fly, but try to stay under cover."

"We'll be careful. And we'll be back on time," she assured him, resting her hands on his arms as he held her shoulders. "Kalamadea and Akhor are staying behind, but their telepathy is limited, you'll be able to stay in touch for about half a day."

"Alright. I'll remember that. You're sure you'll be okay?"

She frowned. "Kang, what's with you? You're not usually this edgy."

"This sorcerer business is bugging me," he admitted. "You said so yourself that he could pose a real threat to you..."

"I'm a Knight of L-Sama. Believe me, no pidling sorcerer is going to get the better of me!"

He chuckled at her confident boast, then hugged her, holding her close for a brief moment before he held her at arms length again. "You'd better go," he whispered, glancing at the entrance when someone rapped at the tent post. "Remember your promise."

"I will," she smiled, returning the quick hug before she headed out, arching an eyebrow at Slith when she saw that he had been the one to knock on the tent post. "If you _ever_ pull a stunt like that again..." she let the threat hang.

"I won't!"

"Good."

He swallowed, then glanced from a smirking Kang back to her. "Uh, we're all ready to go," he hedged, eyeing the elf to try to guess at her current mood.

"'Kay." Smiling wickedly at his uneasy tone, she turned back towards the tent and rose her right arm. "Korin! C'mon littling, it's time to motor!"

:Already? Damn. I didn't even get breakfast yet: he protested as he flew out to her, talons gripping the material of her sleeve as he landed, wings flaring.

"You can hunt something along the way," she told him as she turned back to Slith. "You look pale, you okay?"

He stared at her, his mouth moving with no sound coming out. Then, seeing that he had been had, and hearing Kang's low chuckle, he snapped his mouth shut, and glowered at the smirking elf. "Let's go," he muttered, grimacing at her cheerful grin.

"Hehe. Bye, Kang!" She waved, then boosted Korin into the air again, following his directions as she headed over to Daeroh, who was calmly waiting with who she guessed what Raskk. Grinning - still happy that she had throughly confused Slith - she sauntered up to them, very aware that an annoyed Slith was at her heels. "Heyla. Hi, you're Raskk, right?" When he bobbed his head in a nod, she smiled. "I"m Lashana, and that little green dragon up there is Korin. By the way any of you two seen Xellos?"

"No ma'am." Daeroh paused at the look she gave him, then corrected himself. "I mean, Lashana."

She contemplated that for a moment, then shrugged. "It's probably a blessing in disguse," she mused, smiling as Korin soared down and circled them once before landing on her left shoulder, his tail winding around her throat to anchor himself. Smirking, she turned to look at Slith out of the corner of her eye. "Well? You gonna lead the way or should I start making indelicate guesses as to which way to go?"

"This is payback for earlier, isn't it?" he muttered sourly.

"Yup!"

Slith sighed sufferingly, then pointed east. "That way."

"Kewl. Let's haul arse." With a grin, she wove her flight spell and floated off the ground, winking at the startled Raskk before she turned and flew east, hearing Daeroh's yell for her to wait up as the three sivaks took to the air and raced after her.


	7. On The Road Again

"Oooh, my aching back..." Groaning, Daeroh slumped down next to the campfire and set his weapons next to him, looking over at Lashana across the firelight as she munched on some raspberries that she had found, periodically feeding some of the fruits to Korin as she did so. "How are you doing?"

"Hmm?" She glanced up at him and smiled. "Pardon? Sorry, I was talking to, Korin."

"I asked how you were doing. We flew a long way today."

"Oh, I'm fine. Flying like that, it doesn't take much out of me. You?"

He shrugged. "A little sore. Nothing serious," he said, looking up at Slith when the other sivak returned to the fire. "Anything, sir?"

"Nothing. Looks like this part of the forest is rather quiet," the sub-commander told the group as he dropped down to the ground, sitting next to a quiet Raskk. "Y'know what would make this better?"

"Spirits," Raskk chuckled. "Not that it would do us good, getting drunk in the middle of nowhere."

"Nevermind the hangover in the morning," Daeroh smirked, frowning at Lashana when she set Korin onto the ground and stood, walking over to him. "Ma'am?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just hold still," she said as she shook her head, kneeling behind him as she rested her hands on his shoulders, sliding her fingers under the straps of his breast plate before she started working at the knots of muscle there. "You haven't flown a lot lately, have you? Your wing muscles are all knots."

He groaned out a response, his breath leaving him in a soft hiss as he closed his eyes, sighing as she expertly massaged his shoulders, one of her hands dropping to the middle of his back and pushing a little, a warmth spreading through his aching muscles. "Where... where did you learn to do this?"

"I know lots of people with wings," she chuckled as she finished the low key Healing spell, then rose her hands back to his shoulders. "My best-friend is an Avatar of Gaia, she's taught me a lot of Healing spells and the like."

He rumbled lowly in reply, tongue licking at his snout as she worked out the tenseness in his muscles, fingers digging deep into his scales. She pulled away moments later, and he cracked an eye open to look at her, seeing the envious looks he was receiving from Slith and Raskk. "Thankssss," he hissed softly.

Slith and Raskk exchanged looks, then blurted out in unison. "Me next!"

"I have senority!" Slith added, much to Raskk's displeasure.

"Yeah, but you scared the hell out of me this morning, so you get to wait," Lashana said sweetly as she went to kneel behind Raskk, being careful not to step on his tail as she did so.

Raskk fully withheld the urge to mock his superior as he felt the elf's slender fingers against his scales, inwardly surprised at her strength as she pressed down on his shoulders, massaging his wing muscles with seemingly practiced ease.

"Me next," Slith reminded her.

"Back off, sir," Raskk mumbled, cracking an eye open to regard Slith before closing it again, leaning back against the elf's hands as she worked, easing the stress from the long days flight.

"So," Lashana murmured curiously. "Tomorrow we find the mine, then start heading back?"

"That's the plan," Slith agreed as he parred his talons with a dagger, always keeping one eye on her. "It shouldn't be too hard to find the entrance to the mine, we're at the base of the mountain, it's the perfect place for a mine actually."

"Wouldn't know. My first instinct isn't to dig myself into a hole some twenty meters into the ground." Smiling, she gave Raskk a pat on the shoulder, then stood. "You're done. Next."

Slith gazed up at her as she walked over to him and shifted a little, seating himself more comfortably as she crouched behind him. "Did I mention I was sorry about this morning?"

"Not nearly enough times," she smiled as she placed her hands against smooth scales, working at the muscles that rippled just beneath them and frowning at the thicker scar tissue that ran beneath a darker line of scarred scales. "This must hurt you."

"Sometimes," he murmured, sucking in a breath when she placed a hand against the aching scar, a sudden warmth flooding through him. He tensed at little at the sensation, only relaxing when Korin rumbled at him reassuringly from where he lay, basking in the firelight. Her fingers traveled over his shoulders, inching under the straps of his armor to get to the tighter knots of muscle, and he couldn't help but sigh when all the tension seemed to just flow away from him.

He snapped back to himself minutes later, finding that he had dozed off, and he blinked up at the elf curiously as she moved to retake her spot in front of the fire, the little green dragon immediately crawling onto her lap and crooning for attention. "Thanks," he murmured, rolling his shoulders and sighing when no tenseness followed. "Mm, that feels better."

"Daeroh's out of it," Raskk noted as he glanced over at the sleeping draconian, amused at the small smile he had on his face while he slept. "I'll take first watch."

"Second," Slith muttered as he grabbed a sizable stick and poked at the fire, coaxing the flames higher. "Daeroh can take third. You can just sleep, ma'am... er... I mean, Lashana. We're used to taking shifts."

"You sure?" she asked as she scratched Korin's belly. "I don't mind. So long as you wake me up nicely."

Slith chuckled. "No. It's alright. Sleep. Save your energy. You're the only one among us that can weave spells, so it only makes sense that you should rest."

She shrugged, noncommitally, and turned her gaze down to Korin, who purred at her and nipped at her fingers playfully, his tail curled around her wrist as he batted at her hand with his claws. Inwardly, she was reading a powerful shield spell, murmuring the incantation under her breath as she gazed into the flames, feeling the magick flow from her like the wind and encompass her and her companions in a domed barrier. _There. NOW I'll sleep._

:Worry wart: Korin sent, licking his talons clean of berry juice from earlier. :What do you think will happen out here:

__

I have seen the Blair Witch movie. I'm not taking any chances.

:That thing wasn't real.:

__

I don't care, it still scared the crap out of me. She shot a glance into the darkness around the camp and tried to hide the shudder that went through her before she wrapped her jacket tight around her and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs as Korin climbed up to her shoulder. _Damn movie._

Seeing how uneasy she seemed, Slith moved over to her side and nudged her with a wing, drawing her gaze. "You're safe here. Don't worry. Here." He shifted and spread his wing behind her, coaxing her to lean against his side. "Get some sleep. We move out at dawn."

She smiled a little, glad for his presence as she rested her head against his arm. "Thanks," she murmured, gazing into the fire for a little while longer until the dancing of the flames lulled her to sleep.

Unfortunately, despite Slith and Korin's assurances that they were perfectly safe, she found herself jerked awake no less than five hours later as Daeroh smothered the campfire, Slith and Raskk hissing to each other in the draconian's own language as she was roughly grabbed and shoved into someone elses' arms. "Wha?" Her mumble was cut off as a scaled hand covered her mouth, arms pulling her back against an armored chest.

"Shh," Daeroh whispered into her ear, one arm locked around her while he drew a dagger with the other. "Slith heard something."

Swallowing thickly, she moved to get her feet under her, feeling Korin's tail tighten around her throat as he shifted on her shoulder, his talons pricking her through her jacket. Twigs snapped around them, the sound answered by Raskk's warning snarl, a sound that echoed on the winds. She would have been alright with the whole situation if something hadn't grabbed her right leg and pulled, yanking her out of Daeroh's hold and dragging her across the camp.

Screaming, she lashed out with her other foot, scoring a solid hit on something. Not one to crawl away from a fight, especially when she was scared, she lobbed a _Flare Arrow_ at whatever it was, then tackled it, pummelling it with punches before a single word made it through her fear.

"Arigato!"

Her answering yell of rage echoed throughout the forest. Owls three miles away took flight.

"**_XELLOS! YOU BASTARD!_**"

Raskk fumbled with a flint as he listened to Lashana scream and curse at the trickster, and once he got a fire going again, they could all clearly see that she was well on her way to beating him senseless, only he was _smiling_ and doing nothing to defend himself 

Cursing, Slith darted forward and grabbed her, pinning her arms at her sides as he pulled her thrashing and cursing from the priest, surprised at the strength she had as she tried to lunge for Xellos again. "Lashana! Lashana, stop struggling!"

"Lemme go! I'm gonna kill him! I swear it, I'm gonna kill him!"

Smiling, Xellos sat up and brushed dried leaves off of himself. "Yare, yare, Knight-sama. One would think that you had been afraid!"

"_I'm gonna kill him!_"

"You told me he was immortal," Daeroh protested.

"Then I'll just have to get inventive!" she snarled, trying one more time to get free of Slith's hold before she gave up, going limp. "Namagomi!"

__

That at least had the desired intention of annoying him. "Where the hell do you people come up with 'raw garbage'?" he growled.

"Because it fucking _suits you!_ Baka!"

"Alright. You. Sit." Slith dropped the elf near Daeroh, then rounded on the Mazoku. "You. Don't pull something like that ever again. Get your kicks tormenting someone else!"

A smile immediately replaced the frown he had. "Aw, but your fear, it's so delectible!"

Raskk snarled and cuffed him upside the head, muttering about stupid priests as he shoved himself to his feet and went to sit beside a still shaken Lashana, who looked torn between wanting to throttle Xellos or wanting to take off into the woods. "Fear? What, you feed on fear?"

"He feeds on negative emotions. Fear, hatred, anger. He needs those emotions to live. He's a demon, and he's an eternal pain in the ass."

Xellos pouted. "Mou, you're so mean, Knight-sama."

"Don't make me throw you in the sensory deprivation dimension," she threatened. "Because I will. I have no misgivings about opening a portal right now, and chucking you into it."

He actually looked serious as he spoke, rising his hands, palms out, as if to calm her. "Hai, hai. Gomen, Knight-sama. Gomen."

She stared at him a moment longer, then huffed and reached up to brush her fingers against Korin's chest, feeling him nuzzle her cheek in return. "Baka Mazoku."

"What did he just say?" Slith frowned, looking from the purple haired priest to the elf.

"He apologised to me."

"Oh lovely. Well, as long as he apologised to _you_," he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Well, I don't think any of us is going to be getting any more sleep. It's almost dawn anyway. Maybe we should start looking for that mine."

"I may never sleep again," Lashana muttered under her breath, raising a hand to run her fingers through her hair.

Daeroh slung an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, extending a wing to rest it along her back as he gently stood and pulled her to her feet. "You'll be alright," he assured her, sending a glare in the Mazoku's direction as he did so, baring his teeth when the trickster gave him an innocent look.

Taking a deep breath to steel her still rather shaken nerves, Lashana gently pulled away from Daeroh and straightened her jacket, stooping to grab her weapons and then taking a moment to sling her quiver of arrows and bow over her shoulder, feeling Korin shift slightly to accomodate them. "Alright, let's get this over with," she said, glancing over at Slith when he pulled out a map and studied it.

/Knight-sama/

She grimaced at the tentative call that echoed along the Link that she and Xellos shared, and debated throwing up a mental wall to keep him out before deciding to answer. \\Not now, Xellos. I'm not exactly fond of you at the moment.\\

/We have to talk/ he persisted as he walked over to her, his side brushing hers. /It's important./

\\Fine. Then talk.\\

"Ma'am?"

The call jerked her out of the usual concentration it took for her to have a decent telepathic conversation and blinked at Raskk for a moment. "Sorry. What?"

"We're heading out," he repeated, frowning at her curiously. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. I was having a telepathic conversation. It's distracting."

Xellos smiled. /Do I distract you, Knight-sama/

\\Hush, you.\\ Frowning, she headed out after Slith while Daeroh stomped out the fire again, very aware of Raskk's attention on her as they walked. \\Xel, that wasn't funny.\\

He actually seemed to pause for a moment before answering. /But, you know what I am. You know _who_ I am. Why are you always surprised when I merely be myself/

__

That sent her mind on a loop. \\B-because I can never tell what you're going to do next! I've seen you be so serious that I can't see the Trickster side of you, and then one second later you're pulling a prank or doing your creepy evil thing!\\

A chuckle came through the Link. /I'm Mazoku. If I were predictable, I wouldn't be myself./

\\Must you always speak in riddles?\\

/Must you always try to categorize me/

She blinked and frowned at the dried leaves under her feet as she walked, mulling that over. \\I don't mean to. Not really. But you're so hard to understand.\\

/Then don't try to understand me. Just accept./

Her gaze was drawn to Slith's back as he led the way through the forest, her mind whirling as she ran over what Xellos had said. In a way, it made sense. Coming from someone who had the warm and fuzzies for death and destruction, she supposed it made as much sense as it could, all things considered. \\You're right,\\ she admitted softly. \\I'm sorry.\\

/There's nothing to apologise for/ he sent cheerfully, feeling a wave of surprise resonate down the Link. /Another lesson learned/

She rolled her eyes, then blinked when she saw Daeroh mutter something to Raskk, and arched an eyebrow at the two when the latter sent a concerned look in her direction. _What are they talking about?_

:They think you're talking to me: Korin whispered in her mind. :I know you can't help it, but when you have a telepathic conversation with someone, it's really obvious.:

__

Crap. Frowning, she returned Raskk's gaze. "What already?"

He jerked, surprised that she had caught him staring when she had been gazing off into space for the past ten minutes. "N-nothing!"

"Then quit starin'!"

"Oya, oya, Lashana-chan! Don't be so cruel!" Xellos said as he move to walk by her side and slung an arm over her shoulders. "I bet he just can't help himself! After all, you are a very beautiful elf!"

Raskk looked like he was torn between panicking or wishing for the earth to swallow him whole, especially when Slith turned to look back at him. "I said nothing of the sort!"

"Ah, but you didn't have to!" Xellos pressed on, seeing Lashana fight to keep from laughing as he continued to tease the unfortunate sivak. "After all, with you gazing at her like that..." He let his voice trail off and shrugged, grinning all the while. "It's rather evident."

"That's disgusting!" Raskk sputtered, backing away from them. "I don't even _like_ elves!"

Lashana managed a frown and huffed. "Well now I'm insulted."

"Oooh! I understand," Xellos purred as he left Lashana's side and sidled up to the sivak, rubbing against him suggestively. "Perhaps you intend to plunder a different... _variety_... of forbidden fruit?"

And that was the end of the poor sivak's ability to cope with the situation. "_SUB-COMMANDER! HELP ME!_"

Unable to hold back any longer, Lashana glanced away from the poor soldier and rose a hand to muffle her laughter, chuckling even harder at the flabergasted looks that the three draconians gave her. "I-I'm sorry!" she gasped in between bouts of laughter, raising a shaking hand to point at Raskk. "But y-you should see your face!"

Smiling, Xellos removed himself from the sivak and returned to the elf's side, helpfully supporting her when she leaned against him and gasped for breath. "There! Now that's more like the Lashana-chan that I know!"

Slith turned a baffled gaze onto him. "You mean, you did all that... just to get her to laugh?"

The Mazoku shrugged. "Is there something wrong with that?" he asked innocently, smirking at the flurry of motion as Daeroh restrained Raskk from throttling the priest.

"Oh Goddess, that was hysterical," Lashana sighed as she wiped tears from the corner of her eyes, quirking an eyebrow when she saw Raskk fairly foaming at the mouth. "What's wrong with you?"

"_HOW CAN YOU ASK THAT!_"

"...ow."

"Manners, Raskk, manners," Xellos purred, wagging a finger at the sivak, who snarled and tried to rip out his throat, only to be stopped by Daeroh once again.

Slith sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face before daring to get involved in this particular stupidity. "Alright, that's enough. Raskk, up here. Take point. And you," he stabbed a talon at Xellos. "Don't pull any more pranks. Not even for _her _sake. Else you'll have to deal with me!"

Lashana glared at him. "Contrary to Raskk's attempt to deafen me, I _can_ hear you, y'know."

"Good! Because that applies to you too," Slith muttered.

"Me? What'd I do?"

"Just behave!"

Xellos glanced at Slith out of one fully opened eye. "Does that mean I'm a bad influence?" When the sivak merely growled and spun away, he smiled and closed his eye again. "Yare, yare."

In a surprisingly better mood, Lashana fell into step beside him, staying silent for a few moments before she nudged him with her elbow. "You got me into trouble."

He turned his smile onto her. "Me? Lashana-chan, I would never. But," he tapped a finger against her nose. "You are in a better mood."

She smiled. "Yeah. Thanks."

He nodded and bowed to her with a wry smile, cracking an eye open to look at her. "Now, let's find that mine."

"Hai!"


	8. Fall and Seek

**Disclaimer:** If you don't know it by now, tough ;)

**Chapter 8: Fall and Seek**

The sun was at it's zenith when Slith groaned and leaned against a tree, restraining himself from ripping the map into tiny pieces. "Where the _hell_ is the goddamn mine! We've been everywhere!"

Lashana sighed and rose a hand to shade her eyes from the sun as she looked up at the small green form that was circling them. _Anything, Korin?_

:Sorry. I can't see any evidence of a mine anywhere. Want me to check further east:

_No. C'mon back._ "Korin can't see anything," she reported to Slith, who growled in frustration.

"The mine has to be somewhere," Daeroh muttered. "The map specifically said that the entrance was at the base of the mountains next to the main creek."

"We've already checked out every possible location," Slith growled as he unfolded the map and glared at it, as if it was personally responsible for his frustration. "I don't know where else it could be!"

She frowned and glanced up towards the top of a nearby tree. "Oi! Xellos! Anything?"

The Mazoku hummed a little in interest, then teleported down to her. "There appears to be a natural set of caves near the lee of the cliffs. Perhaps they intersect with the mine."

"This is dragon territory," Raskk said. "I'd rather not go trekking into some unknown cave."

"Ech, good point," Lashana muttered. "Then what do we do?"

Slith held his breath for a moment, then sighed. "We take one last look around, then we start heading back to the Regiment." When it looked like the elf was going to protest, he held up a hand to silence her. "It's the best we can do. At nightfall, we have to head back. Kang called you here for a reason, Avatar, the welfare of the entire Reigment is at stake."

"But that's why we're here in the first place!" she cried. "I need at least two crystals to make a permanent shield spell! Without them, I won't be able to weave the protection spell! The Regiment will be unprotected!"

"They're already unprotected! That's why we have to go back!"

"Goddamn stubborn bastard! Don't you realise what's at stake? Without the crystals, I'll have to fuel the spell myself! It'll drain the power from me until I'm dead, then what use will I be to the army!"

"So long as we make it through the mountain pass--" Slith cut himself off with a snap of teeth, silencing the rest of his sentence before he could make the worst mistake of his life.

Unfortunately, Lashana had already heard enough, hence the fact that the elf had just dealt him a vicious uppercut to his jaw, sending him staggering backwards as she spun on her heel and stalked away, her hands fisted at her sides as a golden black aura flickered around her. Eyes wide, he rose a hand to his face, cradling his jaw as he stared after her, torn between guilt and anger at her actions.

Daeroh winced as he watched the emotions flicker over his commanders face, then glanced after the elf, hesitating a moment before heading after her. "Ma'am? Lashana? Are you alright?"

She growled under her breath and walked faster. "No, I'm not alright!" she snapped. "Because your pig-headed idiot sub-commander has the brain capacity of a fuckin' termite!"

The sivak winced. "Begging your pardon, ma'am, but we don't know much about magicks and such..."

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is the point?" he countered gently, grimacing when she shot him a venomous look. "I know how important these crystals are to you, and I know you wouldn't be so adamant about finding them unless it really would help the Regiment, but Slith is thinking of the bigger picture..."

"So am I! I need those crystals! Without a protection spell the army's open to all sorts of attacks, and I can't let it take it's energy from me, because it'll render me powerless! So what do you expect me to do!"

He sighed as her voice reached a desperate pitch, and paused for a moment before reaching out to rest a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know," he admitted, grimacing when she snarled out a curse and spun away, stomping through the underbrush as she savagely pushed vines and branches out of her way. He was about to head back to the others in order to give her some time to herself when her sudden scream made him spin around to run after her, yelling out her name as he pounded around a tree and skidded to a stop at the edge of a huge hole. "Lashana!"

"What happened!" Slith cried as he, Raskk and Xellos joined the other sivak by the edge of the hole, his eyes darting towards the dark chasm worriedly. "Lashana?"

There was a low groan from the darkness. "I think I found the mine..."

"Good work, Knight-sama!" Xellos beamed.

"Uuugh..."

"Are you alright?" Raskk called, hearing movement in the shadows.

"Yeah... yeah. The ground broke my fall... Oof..." Shaking dirt from her hair, Lashana carefully climbed to her feet gazing up at the small hole of light high above before frowning and holding out her right hand, gathering magick in the palm of her hand and smiling when an orb of pure white light appeared at her fingertips. The shadows parted, barely, letting her see about five feet in all directions and nothing else. "You guys coming down? It's about a twelve foot drop."

"Stand back," Daeroh called, folding his wings tight against his back as he jumped down, flaring his wings open at the last second to slow his fall to make a graceful landing amongst the debris, his eyes scanning the darkness around him before settling on the elf. After making sure she was alright, he drew a flint and a torch from his pack, and, after striking the flint a few times against the rock wall, rose the brightly flaming torch, it's light chasing away the shadows around them. "All clear!"

"Ma, ma..." Curious, Xellos phased in next to Lashana and smiled at her, seeing her eyes widen in surprise when she saw Korin curled up on his shoulders. "You certainly have a straightforward way of doing things, Lashana-chan."

She rolled her eyes then stepped back as the other two sivaks joined them, each following Daeroh's example as they lit their own torches. "Everyone remember where the gaping hole is," she muttered as she boosted the orb of light into the air and headed down the mine shaft, her left hand resting on the hilt of her sword as she walked, sensing the three sivaks behind her as she led the way.

Ten minutes later, she paused at a four way junction, feeling the heat from one of the torches ruffle her hair as she looked from one path to the others. "Um..."

"I take it you don't know which way either," Slith sighed, seeing her nod before she rose her hands and cupped them in front of herself. As he watched, she closed her eyes and murmured in a soft tone under her breath, greenish light appearing in the palms of her hands as she concentrated on the spell. Seconds later, her now golden eyes reopened as she threw the small greenish lights into the air, his gaze drawn to them as they circled around her once before shooting down one of the paths.

"That way," Lashana grinned as her eyes reverted to their more normal blue, and she chuckled as she rose a hand to lightly close Raskk's mouth. "You're catchin' flies, hun."

Smiling in his tricksters way, Xellos strolled forward and laced arms with her as he pulled her down the mine shaft with him. "Becareful, little elf," he murmured to her as they walked. "You're using too much Chaos."

"I barely tapped into it," she whispered back with a frown. "The sorcerer can't be _that_ sensitive to it!"

"Don't take chances," he advised her. "This isn't the time to take risks, Knight-sama."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "What is it that you're not telling me?"

"Sore wa..." he paused and shook his head. "No. That's not right. I don't have anything to back up my wariness, call it intuition."

"Alright. Alright, I can understand that." Still, she knew that he was hiding something from her, but she wasn't about to force him to tell her. If it had been important, he would have told her, she knew him well enough to trust him on that. The question that remained, however, was, why he seemed to be so worried about her even lightly tapping into the Chaos?

Frowning, she shook such thoughts from her mind. She wasn't a philosopher. She'd find out sooner or later. Sighing, she gently pulled away from Xellos and sent a bit more power into the light orb she had conjured up, sending it ahead to light their way, pausing when it disturbed a few bats, the rodents sqeaking as they shot past her. "Ugh. Rats with wings..."

"But good with ketchup," Xellos said, eliciting a strange look from the elf before she returned her gaze to the path that lay before them, her eyes narrowing as she knelt by a sort of marking and lightly ran her fingers over it. "Nani?"

"I'm not sure," she mused, her voice faraway. "They're not normal tracks but..."

"But what?" Slith asked, kneeling by her side. "What is it?"

"Dunno."

He followed her gaze down to the odd marks in the dirt and frowned. "These tracks are fresh. I'm at point, Lashana, you're with Daeroh, Raskk, cover our backs."

The elf frowned at his decision, but didn't say anything, allowing Slith to push her behind him as he headed down the shaft, his sword in one hand and the torch in the other. Biting her lower lip, she banished the light spell and instead readied herself to shoot off a volley of _Flare Arrows_, her magick tingling at her fingertips as she walked, glancing at Xellos when he brushed against her side, the jewel on his staff glowing slightly.

_I don't like this._ Muscles tensing, she followed Slith around a corner and balked when she saw that he had stopped short in his tracks, his eyes wide in surprise and horror as he stared into the darkness just beyond the circle of light given off by his torch. She stepped forward to stand by his side, brushing Xellos' hand off her arm when he tried to stop her, and she sucked in a breath when she saw the shadows move towards them, the firelight glinting off of black chiton.

Crying out a warning to the other two sivaks, she kicked Slith out of the way as a pincer jabbed forward and snapped shut where his head had been mere heartbeats earlier, the mine walls shaking as she lobbed the fire arrow spell at the creature, the flames illuminating a crab-like face with lots of fangs and a small set of pincers, glaring red eyes staring at her balefully. She returned it's glare with a lightning spell, ducking as those quick pair of pincers came at her, the razor sharp edges shearing a few inches off her hair as she threw herself aside, dirt cascading onto her when it's 'arm' slammed into the side of the mine shaft.

Xellos was pulling her to her feet seconds later, his eyes wide open and hungering for death as he twirled her out of the way of another attack, whacking a pincer away with his staff before loosing a blast of dark power at it, forcing it back. More hands tried to pull her back from the fight as Slith yelled at the group to fall back, and she struggled against Daeroh's hold as his torchlight reflected off of three fist sized crystals near the bugs legs.

With a cry of defiance, she ripped her way free of the sivak's hold and threw herself forward, drawing her sword with a shout as she loosed a full power fireball right into the things face, darting forward under it's belly to gather the crystals into the crook of her left arm, cradling them close as she rolled out from under it, yelping when it's maw suddenly loomed in her vision.

"_Knight-sama!_" Phasing in front of her, Xellos rose his staff and slammed the tip of it into one of the creatures eyes, ducking a swipe from a claw before he knelt, grabbed the elf and phased over to the three sivaks, gently setting her on her feet as he looked at Slith. "I think it's time to go."

It seemed Lashana's sarcastic nature was rubbing off on Slith. "Really? I hadn't noticed!"

"Shut up and run!" Lashana yelled, shoving Slith forward as the bug roared and lunged for them. Clinging to the crystals, she darted past the sub-commander and the others, leading the way back to the opening in the mine shaft. The other draconians behind her yelled at her to hurry, and she frowned as she poured on the speed, skidding around a corner and then bolting for the sunlight ahead. "Go!" she ordered them, shoving the crystals into Raskk's arms as she spun and faced the thing that was coming right at her, her eyes narrowing as she rose her hands. "Payback time."

"Keep going!" Slith shouted, urging the draconians onward when Daeroh stopped and turned towards Lashana. "Go! She's going to start a cave-in!"

"_Source of all power. Crimson fire burning bright. Gather to my hand and become my power!_" She felt Xellos' arms wrap around her from behind as she threw her hands forward, fire and energy gathering between her spread palms. "_FIREBALL!_"

Daeroh spun as the ground behind them exploded, great rents appearing between the trees as the mine imploded on itself, sending plumes of dust and dirt high into the air. Eyes wide, he quickly followed the other sivaks to a safer distance, then turned to survey the damage again. "By the Gods... Where's Lashana!"

Slith hissed softly as his gaze scanned the calming wreakage where a large portion of the forest once stood, his hopes of the elf having survived the explosion dying when the dust finally settled, revealing the sheer carnage where the mine had once been. "I don't think she made it..."

"You should have more faith in me than that!"

Startled, Raskk and the others spun towards the cheerful voice, grinning in delighted surprise when he saw Lashana and Xellos calmly standing before him. "You're alive!"

"Naturally," Xellos smiled, eyes closed once again as he stood by the Avatar's side.

Slith loosed a chuckle of relief as a smirk spread over the elf's lips, then glanced at the crystals that Raskk was holding. "Well..." he let that trail off for a moment, then smiled at his little group. "Let's get back to the Regiment."

Kang sighed as he gazed up at the slowly brightening horizon, frowning up at the fading moons intently. This had been the second night that Slith's group had been absent from the ranks, and he found himself worrying about them. He had hoped that they would have been back by now, his nerves were running ragged, worry about Lashana and worry about the welfare of his Regiment knotting his insides, keeping him from sleeping.

Another sigh left him as he turned and looked out over the camp, gazing at the goings on with mild interest, his stomach growling softly when the scent of roasting deer registered on his senses. Pushing his rather selfish worries aside, he strolled deeper into the camp, nodding and smiling to various dracos that passed him, relieved at least to see that morale seemed to be in good shape.

He was halfway to the mess tent when a cry rose among the Regiment, and he spun to run in the direction of hoots and yells, a grin spreading over his lips when he saw a familiar silver form weaving his way through the mob while the very familiar Xellos floated through the air, his hands laced behind his head. "Slith!"

The sivak rose his head and looked out across the group of draconians before focusing on the Commander, and he rose an arm in reply as he led his small group through the throng of dracos. "Sir! Sorry we're late, we had trouble finding the mine."

"Yeah, traffic was murder," Lashana smirked, shifting the straps of her backpack so that they didn't aggrivate her aching shoulders, feeling Korin shift over her shoulders when he sensed her tense pain. "So, didja miss us?"

He chuckled and smiled at her. "Maybe. So? Was it a success?"

"Yes, sir. We managed to get three crystals, despite the... interesting wildlife," Slith answered with a slight smirk. "If it's alright with you, sir, I'll give you my full report after breakfast. We're a bit ragged at the edges."

"Of course. C'mon, I was heading there myself."

"Oh good. _Food_." As Korin loosed a growl of hunger, Lashana pushed her way past the dracos and headed for the mess tent. "I'm about ready to eat the scabbord for my sword!"

Kang arched an eyeridge and glanced at Slith. "Slim pickings?"

"We double-timed it back here," the sivak answered with a chuckle. "We've been on the move since yesterday afternoon. And let me tell you, if I ever see another mine, it'll be too soon."

There was a commotion from the mess tent ahead. "Yaiya! Give me some of that deer before I faint from lack of food! Ack! Korin! Don't attack the cook!"

"I take it that the journey was... eventful?" Kang hedged, glancing at his Second when he chuckled.

"You have no idea. I'd hate to get on her bad side. She gives good shoulder-rubs by the way."

That surprised him, though he hid it well. "I know." By the time they reached the tent, Lashana was already ripping into a second serving of meat, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes when he saw Korin on one of the tables, knawing at a meat covered rib. "You've been weaving too many spells again."

"Mm. Flight spell. Over twelve hours."

"We were flying for a long time," Daeroh explained with a chuckle. "I offered to carry her but...well, she wouldn't hear of it."

"That doesn't surprise me," Kang smirked as he accepted a choice piece of well-cooked meat from the cook and he quickly went to sit beside the elf before he too tore into his meal, his eyes widening in surprise when she went to get herself a third helping. "How long did you say you had that flight spell working?"

"Too long," she muttered, hearing an agreeing growl from Korin as the little dragon knawed on the bone, trying to crack it open to get at the marrow within.

Slith chuckled at her mumble and seated himself across from her and the commander, gesturing to Daeroh and Raskk to join them. "Anyway, like I said before, sir, we managed to secure three crystals, and I imagine that once Lashana finishes her meal that she'll begin working on the protection spell..."

"Mpft."

"I'll take that as a yes," Kang chuckled, entertaining the thought that he had never seen Lashana eat so much in one meal. But then again, maintaining a spell for over twelve hours without any chances to sleep did take a horrible toll on any sorcerers system. "So, what about the 'local wildlife'?"

"Well, I don't know if it was natural or not, but we came face to face with a giant bug in the mines. Lashana and Xellos took it out just in time. But the chances that we'd run into something like that just as we were searching for the crystals..." Slith let his voice trail off and shrugged. "I don't know, but it seems suspicious to me."

"It does to me too," Kang frowned, glancing over at Lashana when she finished her meal and happily patted her stomach. "Could you have been followed? By magick?"

"Doubt it," she muttered contentedly. "Xellos would have noticed."

"You put too much faith in him," Raskk muttered. "You shouldn't trust him."

At Kang's questioning look, Slith chuckled. "Xellos played a prank on him in order to get Lashana to laugh."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, _after_ he nearly frightened me to death!" she growled, reaching out to snatch the bone from Korin and then using a dagger to split it in half lengthwise, returning it to him afterwards. "Damn Mazoku."

"Did I just hear my name taken in vain?" Smiling, Xellos teleported into the tent and floated over the group, lying down on empty air. "Yare, yare, Lashana-chan, you certainly put that food away, didn't you?"

"Oh shut up," she grumbled, a faint blush staining her cheeks as she folded her arms over her chest and pointedly avoided everyone's gazes.

Xellos chuckled and floated over to her, tapping a finger against her nose, seeing her blush intensify. "Poor, Lashana-chan. Am I embarrassing you?"

"Urusei..."

"What was that?" Daeroh smirked.

"Ah, she just told him to shut up," Kang translated with a grin, reaching out to pick up one of the three crystals and turning it over in his hands. "But let's stop picking on her before she fireballs the lot of us."

She snorted at that, then casually reached up to smack Xellos away from her, sighing when he grinned and moaned softly in contentment. "Hentai."

"Anyway," Slith said, changing the topic of the conversation before the elf made good on Kang's premonition. "Were there any more attacks while we were away?"

Kang was immediately serious again. "No, but we're being followed. Scouts report more of those horse demons about a quarter mile behind us, but they're not attacking, just following."

"They're waiting," Lashana whispered, her gaze steady as she continued to stare at the tabletop. "They're waiting for the right moment to attack. When we're distracted... Is there any sign of something ahead?"

"No. Nothing."

She frowned, then stood, plucking the crystal out of Kang's hands before snatching up the other two stones. "I'm going to go weave that shield spell. Kang, can I use your tent for a little while?"

He looked up at her and nodded, searching her gaze for a second before holding back the questions that came to mind. "Go ahead. Do you need help?"

"No. Just give me twenty minutes of privacy, okay?"

He didn't like the shadows in her eyes, but there wasn't much that he could do about it at the moment. "Alright. I'll check in on you in half-an-hour."

A ghost of a smile graced her lips as she paused at the entrance to the tent, turning to look at him warmly. "I figured you would. I'll see you guys later."

Daeroh gulped down the rest of his meal and headed after her. "Lashana! Dammit, would you wait for me!"

She glanced back at him and sighed. "I don't need an audience for this, Daeroh."

"I'm just going to stand guard outside, to make sure you're not disturbed," he told her, eyeing her curiously. "What's the matter with you all of a sudden?"

"I just... I just have a bad feeling all of a sudden. I want to get these crystals charged and ready to go as soon as possible." She paused at the entrance to Kang's tent and looked over at the sivak. "Thanks, by the way."

He frowned and cocked his head to the side. "For what?"

She shrugged, then smiled at him. "Just... for everything. Anyway, I'll be out in about twenty minutes or so. Okay?" When he nodded, she turned and headed inside, making sure to close and secure the tent flaps before walking over to the table and setting the crystals down on it, putting her hands on her hips as she regarded them, mulling over how to go about enchanting them. There were two ways she could do this. The first was to enchant each one seperately, while the other was to work on them as a group, tying them together so that they would share power, strengthening each other if one were to weaken.

The latter sounded much more appealing to her, and she smiled grimly as she pulled out a piece of charcol she had swiped from a campfire, twirling it in her fingers before she leaned over the tabletop and drew out a pentagram, regarding the five pointed star calmly as she picked up each crystal and placed them on three of the points. Feeling the presence of someone behind her, she sighed and turned to frown at Xellos, who eyed her calmly as he stepped out of the shadows, darkness writhing around him as he cracked an eye open, the gemstone orb gleaming in the light of the tent.

She returned his gaze for a few breaths, then smirked and gestured to the bag that hung at his hip. "You didn't happen to swipe anything of use lately, have you?"

"Me? Steal things? Why, Lashana-chan, you _wound_ me!"

She rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "Uh huh."

He grinned suddenly, then handed her two silver-dollar sized sapphires, chuckling when she nearly drooled at the sight of the huge expensive gems. "Are _these_ what you were hoping for?"

"They're perfect!" she smiled, spinning away from him to place them on the two empty spaces on the pentagram. "Now, don't interupt me. This is going to take a lot of power, so I want to get this right the first time."

When he nodded, she held her hands out over the five stones and closed her eyes, pulling on the power inside her as she extended a small part of her aura around the pentagram, 'seeing' it with her minds eye as tendrils of magick began to encircle the stones, the energy beginning to be absorbed into the crystals. As she channeled the magick and wove it into what she needed by strength of spirit and strength of will, she allowed herself to fall into a light trance, focusing all her energy, all her attention onto this one goal.

The web of magick that she was weaving fought her. As one thread was woven into the enchantment, two others would unravel, threatening to shatter the entire spell and leave her weakened in it's wake. Thrice she almost lost control of it, just managing to grasp the threads in time to keep the spell intact. It was like trying to fight back a flood of water while going uphill, in winter, with three inches of ice under your feet. In the end, it was her simple stubbornness that allowed her to finish the spell, her pure will to complete the damned incantation and be done with it once and for all that triumphed against the frustrating enchantment.

She came out of the spell shaking and drained, the lines that made up the pentagram glowing blue for a moment longer before fading out. Hands grabbed her, supporting her when she did a controlled collapse to the ground, her breath coming in rapid pants as she shook from exertion. Raising a shaking hand, she brushed her damp bangs from her forehead and blinked up into concerned amethyst orbs, taking a few deep lungfuls of air before speaking, and even then, her voice was as unsteady as her hands. "Remind me to never do that again, okay?"

Xellos smiled slightly then helped her to her feet, keeping a strong hold on her to make sure she wouldn't collapse again. "Hai. I was watching. You've gotten a lot better at enchanting items over the past year."

"Surprising, considering that I haven't had a lot of practice," she muttered weakly, clinging to him as he guided her over to Kang's bed and sat her on the edge of it, kneeling before her as he took her hands in both of his, trying to rub warmth back into them. "I'm okay."

"You're cold," he frowned, raising their hands and lightly exhaling warm breath onto her fingers and then rising, unlatching the clasp to his cloak and then wrapping the warm material around her, tucking it tightly against her sides before he turned and went to study the crystals. "You tied them together? Like a web... very inventive, Lashana-chan."

"I try," she smiled tiredly, pulling his cloak tighter around her as a shiver ran it's way down her back. As always, the weaving of such a powerful spell had cost her a great deal of her composure and wellbeing, but she figured that the end results were worth the hour-long discomfort she would go through. The lure of sleep was starting to knaw at her, and she found herself more than willing to succumb to it as she lay down on Kang's bed and curled up under the warmth of Xellos' cloak, letting darkness take her.

"So, where should we place the-- Lashana-chan?" Thinking that she had passed out, Xellos walked over to her and lightly rested a hand on her shoulder, a soft chuckle escaping him when all he got in respose was a sleepy mumble. "Oya oya..."


End file.
